A Different Kind of Hero
by LightDrksoul
Summary: Jaune Arc has finally returned to civilization after his ten-year-old training with Qrow Branwen. Throughout his life, he wanted to be a hero, but what Vale needs now isn't a huntsman, but a knight. A retelling of the first three volumes with big changes. Warning ships are inbound! Lancaster mostly though.
1. Chapter 1

Destination Vale! A Hero is Born!

 _Flying over the world of Remnant, a lonely crow comes to the continent he nicknamed Dragrah. Deep in it's unexplored and dangerous forests, a boy sits in meditation with his eyes closed in a lonely clearing…_

He unsheathed his sword and jumped doing a backflip just as an Ursa Major rushes him, landing and slicing it in two, the boy looks at the kill as suddenly the forest comes alive with the creatures of Grimm. He smiles as three Beowolves run and jump at him, rolling out of the way and allowing them to hit each other. While they are dazed, he stabs each through the heart. A Death Stalker and King Taijitu work together to surround the warrior, but he just turns his sheath into a shield and shouts at them.

"Come on! I don't have all day!" The King Taijitu takes his bait and attempts biting him while keeping away from the boy's blade. He runs and the giant snake gives chase, never letting the boy take a moment's rest until he jumps onto the Death Stalker. The scorpion prepares its stinger for when the boy tries to dodge the next attack, giving the King Taijitu the time to aim and strike. Just as the snake goes for the kill, the boy tosses his sword up and pulls out a revolver, jumping back to avoid the deadly attack and shooting up at the stinger above. The bullet rips through the Death Stalker armor like butter and lets the poisonous stinger fall onto the head of the King Taijitu. The boy grabs his sword as it was falling and uses it to slice off one of the King Taijitu's teeth and impale it into the eyes of the Death Stalker. Leaving the huge beasts to die, the boy yawns and stretches, until a slight flapping noise makes him turn and cut down a line of trees.

"Anyone ever teach you to respect nature?" The boy sighs and turns to see a man with graying black spiky hair, red eyes, and slight stubble along his jawline. With a red, tattered cloak, he wore a gray dress shirt with a long tail, black dress pants, and black dress shoes.

"You taught me everything I know, so who is really the bad guy here?" The boy smiled at his mentor and friend before walking away a bit and leaning against a tree. "So tell me, old man, are you going to drop me off at another place that would love nothing better than to kill me or is this a visit out of the kindness of your heart."

Qrow Branwen rolled his eyes and pulled out his ever-present flask. After a nice long drink he started, "Why is it Sunflower that when I come to see you I always feel the need to drink?"

The boy, Jaune Arc, smirked and crossed his arms proudly. "A special talent I got from watching you, besides you always are looking for an excuse to be drunk."

Qrow shrugged, unable to deny the truth, but looked around at the mess Jaune had made. "In another world, you're a maid and they just had a heart attack at this mess."

Jaune rolled his eyes and frowned at him. "Tell me why you're here Qrow, has something happened?"

Qrow sighed and pulled out a folder from his jacket, tossing it to Jaune. "I'm impressed you're not dead after all I put you through, so I decided that you're ready." A long silence dragged and Qrow walked to Jaune and waved his hand in front of his face. "Sunflower, you okay?"

Jaune hugged Qrow as tight as he could and cheered jumping up. "YES! It's time I get off this damn island! So where am I going? The mountains of Mistral or the deserts of Vacuo?"

' _Damn kid is as hyper as Ruby when he wants to be!'_ Qrow dusted himself off and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder to stop him. "No, I'm sending you to Vale."

. . .

Qrow didn't answer any more of Jaune's questions and told him to get to the edge of Dragrah since no airship was willing to go this far into the unexplored region. As Jaune ran his way towards the exit, Qrow decided to be lazy and just turn into a bird to have Jaune carry him the whole way. After finally reaching the ocean, Jaune took a moment to catch his breath and Qrow turned back into a human to drink.

"Y-you didn't think you could run with me old man? Afraid that I would leave you behind?"

Qrow finished his flask and hit Jaune on his back, _accidentally_ too hard and sent him face first into the dirt. "Sorry Sunflower, but I didn't want to leave you in the dust as I know your pride is fragile."

"We'll see what's fragile when I punch you in the-"

"Well now, I see my silver tongue rubbed off on you too. Hurry up and get in." They boarded a bullhead and started their way to Vale. "So kid, tell me are you nervous?"

Jaune rubbed his face and sighed. "Don't I have the right to be? You had me training for the last ten years in the most dangerous places in Remnant and I haven't met another person, not counting you, for eight years. I don't know if I'm ready for all this."

The image of a small blond boy in bloody and torn clothes running through the woods goes through Jaune's mind and he closes his eyes, allowing the memory to continue.

. . .

Six-year-old Jaune was scared, more scared than he had ever been in his life, as he ran through the dark wet woods of Vale. The shattered moon was his only source of light as he was dodging trees and thorny bushes, a loose tree branch sent him face-first into the mud. Jaune wanted to cry, he wanted his sister, his mom, his… father. He wanted to be away from the woman with the scary eyes. Growls and howls brought Jaune back to his reality and he forced himself to keep running, dragging his bloody ankle behind him. He remembered his dad once said that fear attracted the creatures of Grimm and if he was ever lost to not be afraid, guess he just failed his father again. He was terrified and the glowing red eyes and shadows around him weren't helping, a swipe from one of the monsters sent him down again. Jaune cried as there were several pairs of eyes watching him, but he wouldn't die without fighting. He took the sheath off his back and pulled out his family sword. The blade took both hands for the boy and he could barely swing it, but he screamed while running at young Beowolf just to get a boot kick him to the ground. Qrow stood there with his blade in the Beowolf's head and he proceeded to kill the Grimm that dared attack.

"Sorry about giving you the boot kid, but that was pretty stupid. Ballsy but stupid, reminds me of me. What's your name?" Qrow held out a hand to the downed boy.

"Jaune… Jaune Arc." Jaune looked at his blade and cried in anger at his uselessness.

Qrow looked at the boy and questioned his reasons for being out for so far and late, but all he got in return was a glare. That glare told Qrow all he needed to know, it was the rage that he had hoped he would never see in the eyes of a child. "Fine Sunflower, how about this? I will help you train until you're ready to tell me why I had to save you okay?" Jaune looked at the man and nodded showing Qrow his blade. "Nice kitchen knife kid, but that blade is old and has dulled over the ages. We will need to sharpen it and you need to grow a bit before you can use that respectfully."

"Why would you help me?"

Qrow stopped as thought about it. "I think I want to help you not become me."

. . .

"Kid! Get your head out of the clouds before I kick you back to Remnant!" Jaune snapped out of his flashback and looked at the one who basically became his father over the years. Sure, he had left him in the wild with no supplies for two years but at least he came back for him. "Good to see you back, but we still need to talk. I have gotten things ready for your glorious return to society and an old friend helped a lot. My friend has given you Vale's old clock tower for your home and new base of operations. I had to call in a few favors, but I think you should have everything you need to start."

Jaune leaned back in his chair and looked through the folder he had gotten earlier. "So I'll be living in a bell tower, I always appreciated your subtlety Qrow."

The drunk rolled his eyes. "Look I trained and basically raised you since you were six, I think a thank you is in order."

Jaune looked Qrow in the eyes with a serious expression. "Thank you Qrow, for everything. I know it was hard on you."

' _Well, I guess I did teach the kid manners, take that Winter, Tai, Raven, Oz, Glynda! I can raise a kid right!'_ Qrow smirked smugly and leaned back. "Yeah well, nothing someone like me can't handle."

Jaune pretended to drink some water and mumbled under his breath. "Yeah, thanks for abandoning me in the forest, desert, mountains, and in the middle of the sea. Father figure of the year right there."

Qrow glared at the young man who tried his best to look innocent. "I could have saved Remnant a lot of trouble by killing you myself."

Jaune faked being hurt. "And take me away from the ladies? Have you no soul?"

Qrow chuckled at that one. "I see my perfect charm is starting to rub off, but sorry Sunflower you didn't get the looks."

"Why didn't you tell me that the drunken scraggy man look is in season? I could have prepared."

"Oh har har, I swear I robbed the world a talented comedian."

The two friends shared a laugh, but Jaune was distracted when Vale started coming into view. After all the time he spent away from civilization, it was an incredible sight to see. The second thing to catch his eyes was the CCT tower that presided at the Beacon Academy. Jaune had once dreamed to attend and become a huntsman like his father before him, oh how time changes things.

"Beacon… I imagined it bigger."

"My nieces should be getting there for orientation and after they pass they will be enrolled, one of the bigger reasons I came back here."

"Oh come on, aren't I your favorite student? I thought you came to bring me here?"

"Sorry kiddo, but they came first and Ruby is my favorite. Besides if I'm honest I kinda forgot you were out there for that last year." Jaune glared at the man and sulked, causing Qrow to roll his eyes. "Okay okay, no need for that what will it take for you to stop being mad? An apology?"

Jaune smirked and Qrow felt like he wouldn't like the answer. "How about you give me the names and numbers of your nieces?" Silence flooded the room and Jaune snapped his fingers in front of Qrow.

"You want my nieces' numbers? Fat chance in hell and you don't even have a scroll!"

"Sheesh, you can be a buzzkill, how about their names then? I can do any damage with a name."

"Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose, both their father and I trained right so I think they could give you a run for your money. I'd like to see you try dating either."

"Hmm, we'll just have to hope I see them in the city. So why Vale?"

"My trusted colleagues and I believe that Vale and Beacon will soon be threatened and I want you to try to keep peace down in the city. The White Fang and a guy named Roman Torchwick are making big claims that change is coming and I don't like change. I think Roman may know something about what happened _that night._ For your first outing, I will give you a job, destroy a shipment that we believe is coming in for the White Fang."

"Why not send a huntsman for the job?"

"A huntsman draws too much attention and we want this done quietly, no fatalities."

"You know how I feel about killing people."

"Just had to make sure that Dragrah didn't drive you crazy… well crazier."

"I'll be fine after I get something to eat." Looking down at Vale, Jaune caught eyes of two people who seemed to be out of place. One had a head of bright yellow hair and a respectable bust, but the other intrigued him. A young girl in a red cloak who seemed to have a weapon on her side. Jaune smiled and looked at the city that he would call home. "I think I'm gonna like it here."

. . .

Qrow led Jaune through Vale, showing him the important places such as the arcade, and towards the old rundown clock tower.

"Tell your friend that I said this is great, I love it." Sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Stop whining and be grateful that I even got you a place."

"It has no food!"

"Oh one more thing Sunflower, I got you a job at a local tavern. I can't be paying for everything! He will help you out and already knows about what you're doing. Byyyye!"

"Qrow, you old drunk get back here!" Jaune groaned and went into the old tower, climbing to the top and finding a handprint scanner. Touching it caused the walls around him to shimmer and glow a deep blue, a handful of gadgets, dust of various colors, a weapon customization bench, and his crown jewel all came into view. Jaune thanked Qrow under his breath and grabbed his new suit.

. . .

Later that night, down at the pier several groups of the White Fang were moving shipments of dust from a boat that just came in. Looking down at them from the shadows was a man in black armor that covered his entire body. It was expertly crafted with white trims and when he moved didn't make a sound. A masked covered the lower half of his face and red contacts made him almost unrecognizable, except for the blond hair that refused dyeing. Jaune took photos of the gang members, the dust, the symbol that was on the containers that said they were from the Schnee Dust Company, and of the bigger threat. They were moving weaponry, military grade stuff.

Jaune smiled as he finished the boring part and could get on with the fun. One member that needed to relieve himself, separated from the rest and was met with an armored punch to the face. A four other members heard the punch and cautiously approached, freezing in fear as their friend was thrown back at them.

' _Time this right Jaune, don't screw up!'_ Jaune walked out of the shadows slowly and saw the fear on the members faces, even with the masks on. ' _Damn I'm a badass.'_ Jaune thought as one member tried to hit him with a mace, just for the attack to not do anything. Jaune smiled and grabbed the mace. "Was that your best? Let me show you mine." Jaune elbowed the member in the jaw and threw the mace at another who caught it, just for Jaune to punch it into the man's chest. The last two attacked together, making Jaune backflip and smash their heads together.

A small army of the White Fang came rushing and Jaune smiled, vanishing in the shadows. When they all came together to look at the knocked out men, Jaune aimed carefully and blew up a big shipment of dust that was far enough to not kill anyone, but hurt them. The explosion knocked out all, but one member who looked to where the shot had come from to see a dark knight looking at him with red eyes.

"Tell the White Fang that they aren't allowed here anymore, by the decree of the Shadow Knight!" Jaune jumped at the man who screamed and ran into a shipping container, knocking him out. "That was easier than I thought it would be." Jaune left and a few hours later the members were waking up, to be met with the sight of a beautiful, if not gorgeous woman, with long hair and amber eyes.

"What happened and who did this?" Her voice had a seductive edge to it.

"I-it was some sort of man or monster! We all didn't see it, but he might have." The member in question pointed to the youngest who he had seen to be conscious still at the last moment."

"I see, well this just got easier then. This little incident should get the huntsmen and Adam Taurus off us for a bit." Cinder stabbed the member she had been talking to in the throat with an arrow and turned to the shocked faces of the others. She smiled and slaughtered them all, but the one who had seen Jaune and took him back to give his recount of things.

. . .

Ozpin looked down at the city of Vale, happy to know that they now had their own version of a huntsman, but he had yet to meet this boy that Qrow had told him about. A boy with the heart and will to brave what he went through and to want to become a hero, he sounded like a worthy huntsman to Ozpin. Qrow said that the boy was seeking another path though, one that may come to become Ozpin's ace.

"Looks like fate has given me a nice hand for once." Ozpin chuckled as he thought of his two aces, this mysterious knight and Ruby Rose.


	2. Chapter 2

The Hero's Test! Introducing Ruby!

Ruby Rose was not what people would call, up to date. She simply didn't find looking out for the next biggest gossip as fun, except when it came to weapons. It was her first full day at Beacon when she headed down to the breakfast, a spring in her step to have passed the test from yesterday. She was chosen as leader of Team RWBY and Pyrrha Nikos was the leader of Team PRN. The two teams worked well together, being able to barely defeat a Nevermore. Through the halls, everyone seemed to be whispering about something.

" _So much blood"_

" _They were White Fang, who cares?"_

" _What could have done it?"_

" _I heard a story of a dark knight…"_

Ruby continued her way to the cafeteria, getting her food and joining her friends and fellow team members. Ren was trying in vain to get Nora to not eat so much as the girl was nearly choking herself with all the pancakes in her mouth. Pyrrha was studying and cleaning her weapons and studying for a later class. Yang was making Yang tier puns and trying to get a laugh from anyone. Blake was reading a book with a pink of a pink hue on her cheeks and Weiss was reading the paper.

' _Who reads a paper anymore?'_ Ruby thought as she sat next to Yang and began to eat, trying to enjoy her food until Weiss leaned back in her chair.

"I suppose you all must have heard about what happened in Vale last night after all the whole school is talking about it."

Yang suddenly allowed herself to take that situation seriously. "You're talking about the murders at the pier, right? I heard some ghost did it."

Pyrrha blushed as she rubbed her head. "I heard it was a knight in black armor."

"Most likely it was some angry huntsmen that hated the White Fang, heaven knows they have the enemies," Weiss said in a deadpan way.

"I have to go." Blake couldn't stand this talk and gathered her things, heading to the library. "I'll find out what did this."

Ruby thought over the story, but her thoughts were stuck on what Pyrrha had brought up. "A knight… in Vale?"

. . .

' _No… How did things go so wrong?_ ' Jaune rubbed his nose as he watched the news of a mass murder at the pier. ' _The men were all alive when I left, what will happen when they catch wind of some freak in a costume running around Vale?'_ He sighed as he pulled out a flask and took a swig, something he learned from his ever-present father figure. Jaune's thoughts were interrupted when his computer that was for his nightly activities turned on without a command.

"Sir Knight, I believe you saw the news." A computerized voice questioned as Jaune quickly grabbed his mask, hiding his face.

"Who are you and how are you taking control of my equipment?" The computer voice gave a chuckle before continuing.

"I am the friend of the birdie that gave you this tower. You see I know that you wouldn't have killed those men last night, but the important point is that someone did and you will be blamed for this attack. You must first gain the respect of the people as this is shaky ground you are walking, if you are blamed for another mistake I'm afraid they may send huntsmen after you. I know how skilled you are and I'm worried that the huntsmen that attack won't be able to defend themselves, besides if you lose that's bad and if you win that's bad."

"So deal with a few small crimes before going for the White Fang again… just great. So what can I do then Mr…."

"Call me O"

"Oh?"

"No, O as in the letter. You have a greater purpose in the grand scheme of things Sir Knight, so do try and stay out of trouble. Oh, before I go I have to say that you're late for work and I will be adding something to the suit while you are out.."

"Oh shit!" Jaune shouted and rushed out of his room, tossing the mask behind him. O chuckled as he shut down and locked the hideout behind the young hero. "It's my first day I can't be late!

Ozpin canceled his call to the knight and sat back, wondering if he should go to the local tavern. He looked into a box that had a Crow painted on it.

"Always having to be dramatic."

. . .

Blake was on the way to Vale when Ruby nervously asked to join her. After hearing that Weiss and Yang were arguing and Ruby decided to get out while she could, Blake agreed to take to take the little reaper.

"Why aren't you at the library, wasn't that where you were heading?"

"I was, but it was filled with too many people whispering of the murders that I couldn't think. I'm heading to some new place I saw a sign for when I came yesterday, I think you'll really like it." Ruby smiled at that and leaned back in her seat, but she then frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry for Weiss and everyone… you like the Faunus don't you? How everyone was treating the murder was disgraceful…"

' _You're so close to the truth, but I feel that you understand how it feels to be alone.'_ Blake stared at Ruby and hugged her, surprising the reaper, and Blake separated with a small smile. "Thank you, Ruby, it means a lot." The two friends sat in silence for the rest of the trip, only speaking as the airship landed and opened to the city of Vale. "Let's go see if this place is any fun."

. . .

"What?! What do you mean I don't work here!? Qrow said that you would give me a job!" Jaune shouted as the owner of the local tavern, Pike, shook his head.

"I'm sorry Jaune, but it seems a certain bird didn't fully tell you everything. I did agree to give you a job, you are the sole employee of my second business Pike's Milk Bar." Jaune stared at the man confused. "This city is right next to one of the biggest huntsman academies in Remnant, so why not try to appeal to that big part of the population?"

"Because the students are too young to drink."

"Exactly! So I came up with the milk bar as a nice substitute. They can get any kind of non-alcoholic drink they want, play some video games, read some books, or eat some sweets."

Jaune nodded at the logic, but suddenly his job came back to his mind. "Wait you said that I am the only employee there, how am I supposed to keep everything going and make all the food myself?"

Pike smiled. "Well after you have money you can hire some people, but until then Qrow said that you could handle it and he mentioned you being a good baker."

Jaune sighed and agreed to the job. Pike gave him the address and as Jaune made his way to the bar, he cursed out Qrow like a sailor. Unlocking the door to his own kiddie bar, he entered to an impressive sight. There were several large TVs with multiple kinds of game systems that Jaune didn't recognize, stacks of movies and games, five bookshelves, a few arcade games, and a pool table. The drinks behind the counter were in glass so it would stay cool and as were all non-alcoholic, such as juices, soda, energy drinks, and milk.

"Uhh hello, sir? Is this place open?" Jaune jumped and turned to face two girls. Both were dressed in the same clothes and looked to be near in age so Jaune guessed they were from Beacon. The taller one had long black hair, a frown, analytical amber eyes, and a strange black bow that twitched? The smaller one was almost a complete contrast to her though, she was a redhead whose hair got redder at the tips, a bright innocent smile, and the deepest silver eyes Jaune had ever seen. He stared at them for a moment, before shaking his head and bowing before them.

"Yes, it is! I'm the manager of this establishment. You can call me Jaune, it's short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

Blake smirked as Ruby took the words out of her mouth. "They do? Did your mom tell you that? Well, I'm Ruby and this is Blake."

' _Ouch, that hurt.'_ Jaune raised an eyebrow at Ruby's name and chuckled. "I guess this little rose has thorns, well if you two need anything I'll be behind the counter." Jaune smiled to himself as the smaller girl pouted at the 'little' comment. He remembered he made a joke to Qrow about a certain part of him being little and he woke up a week later in Dragrah. ' _Nice times.'_

Guessing that the girls might want some sweets, Jaune went in the back and quickly started to make cookie dough the way his mother showed him how. After he decided it was ready he put it in the oven and went to see how his customers were doing. Blake was sitting in the reading section and seemed really interested in her book. Ruby was busy playing a video game where you are looking for treasure in an old Grimm tomb and have to shoot your way out.

"Hey, Ruby! Blake! You all want a drink or cookies?" Blake looked at Jaune with wide eyes shaking her head, but it was too late as he had awoken the beast.

"Did you say cookies?" Ruby turned to face him with her bangs casting shadows to cover her face, but her glowing silver eyes and a large grin were still visible.

"Y-yes?" Jaune meant to say it like a statement, but it came out more like a question. The beeping from the oven gave him an excuse to escape the girl's hungry stare. Jaune put them all on a plate and tasted one, smiling at himself for remembering how to cook the Arc's special recipes.

"You are going to share, aren't you?" Jaune nearly choked on the cookie as the voice was close enough he could feel her breath on his ear. Ruby's voice was sweet, it had a hint of warning behind it.

"C-course! I just had to make sure they were ready!" Her eyes never left him as he took the plate, left the kitchen, and placed it on the counter. Blake expertly grabbed one cookie before going to her book and giving Jaune a sad smile. Ruby came out of the kitchen eating his extra cookie dough and grabbed several cookies, before looking at Jaune. "What?"

"Milk."

"Excuse me?"

"I want milk to go with my cookies."

Jaune sighed and pulled out a mug, filling it with milk until Ruby said stop. Blake was taking _subtle_ glances at Ruby's drink and Jaune poured a mug for her too. He was amazed as he turned back to see Ruby was basically inhaling the sweets and milk. "Careful little red, you could choke."

"I'll have you know I am Patch's local cookie champion! I ate the entire huntress scouts truck of cookies when I was ten!"

"She's telling the truth, her sister showed us a picture of the truck and of the bill. This is an amazing cookie." Blake said as she nibbled and never looked away from her book.

"Dad grounded me for that… oh yeah, they're awesome! Some of the best I ever had!"

"Thanks! I'll have to tell my mom that, it's her recipe. I have a few others I was going try tomorrow."

"I'll be your taste tester!" Ruby shouted happily, making Jaune smile and wipe the milk mustache off her lips.

"Will you actually taste them this time?" The girl turned as red as her namesake and nodded. "Then it's a date, will you come back too Miss Blake?"

Blake smiled at Ruby's face and nodded. "It was quiet, maybe a bit too quiet. Can we bring friends?"

Jaune looked at Ruby who took the last few cookies and tried hiding them in her hood. "Will they actually pay?" The joke made Blake smile and she nodded. "Then bring all the friends you want, gets my name out there." The two girls said their goodbye and Jaune sighed, happy that he didn't make a big fool of himself yet. Quickly he locked up everything and ran towards the old clock tower. Ten minutes later the Shadow Knight ran across the roofs of Vale, looking for anything suspicious. A gang of punks caught his eye and they seemed to be circling someone, Jaune pulled out his revolver and shot at one, just grazing him. The gang members looked up in fear at the knight, a black and white cape fluttered in the wind."

"I think you should run away now, or the next shot will go through your head."

. . .

Ruby was just about to step on the airship back to Beacon when she suddenly remembered she had to go get an upgrade for Crescent Rose she had ordered. Blake asked if she wanted her to go with her, but Ruby said that it was fine and she's faster than anyone else. Ruby did get to the weapon shop easy and fast enough but found herself getting distracted by all the weapons and new parts. Rushing to get to the last ride for Beacon, Ruby is distracted by a group of guys getting in her way.

"Hey Red! Want some company? We're a bit lonely." Ruby rolled her eyes.

"I couldn't imagine why." This comment pissed off the men and Ruby was about to use her semblance to run right through them, but a bullet cut one of the men's faces.

"I think you should run away now, or the next bullet will go through your head." The deep voice made Ruby stop and the men all ran away in fear, she turned to see a knight in dark armor with a cape. His red eyes stared into her soul and he turned away. Ruby rushed to the roof where the knight waited, the two stared at each other. "You should go back to your school in the sky."

"I'm where I need to be. You were the one responsible for the pier murders weren't you?"

"No…"

"Well, we can tell that to Professor Ozpin together. I can't let you escape, on my honor as a huntress I will bring you in!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't give up here. Okay my pretty little rose, bring it on!"


	3. Chapter 3

The Knight and The Rose! Enter Roman Torchwick and Neo!

(A/N - Hiya everyone! Before the chapter starts I wanted to thank everyone for the enormous support on this story so far. I couldn't believe the amount of people who really seemed to like this so far. I hope you all will enjoy what's next and any criticism is always appreciated! I want to give a big thank you to The Exiled Darkness for becoming a beta reader for this story. Now that all that is done, on with the show!)

The rose didn't pull her weapon out yet, but from what Jaune had seen of her up until then, she seemed to be the type to go in guns-blazing. So why, why had she not pulled out her weapon? It suddenly hit Jaune and he stared at her in disbelief.

"You… don't have your weapon on you, do you? Why would you challenge someone who you think is a murderer without a weapon?"

Ruby pouted and did her best to flex. "What do you mean? I have those weapons right here and they're enough to beat you!"

Jaune stared and pulled out his sword. "Hellooo, sword?"

Ruby rolled her eyes and smirked. "You won't use that on me, do you want to know why?"

"Enlighten me."

"You said you didn't kill the White Fang and you're a knight aren't you? That means you fight with some kind of honor code doesn't it? I'm an unarmed fifteen-year-old girl in a school uniform, are you really going to use your gun and sword on me?"

' _Her reasoning is based on my word and my name?! What are they teaching their students at Beacon? Qrow said he taught her right? Where is the hotheaded anger? This girl is either naive to a fault or she's some kind of idiot.'_ Jaune looked at her silver eyes and the smirk she wore. ' _No that's not foolish bravado… it's determination… She expects me to agree and she's sure she can win.'_ Jaune chuckled and put his sword away, cracking his knuckles. "Okay rosey, let's play your game and see what you got!" Ruby nodded and smiled, about time that she could really use her semblance against someone who she figured could handle it. She rushed at the knight, his eyes widening just as she started punching him in rapid succession like Yang taught her. She needed to find a fault in the armor, somewhere that he wasn't protected. His laugh caught her off guard and was kind of pissing her off.

"What's so funny?"

"You thought that you could just punch your way through solid metal?" Ruby frowned at the knight and poked him in the eyes, making him back off. Using her semblance, she landed several solid punches to his face and tried for a kick. Jaune grabbed the kick and twisted, making her twist her entire body and land a kick on his face.

"Had enough?" Ruby said with a smile. Qrow taught Jaune how to kill and maim, neither he wanted to do to the girl before him, as Qrow would come kick his ass and the media would love it. He couldn't afford to beat her, but he could rough her up a bit.

"Getting beat by pretty girls, never." Jaune went down on a knee and picked up a handful of rose petals that Ruby had made, throwing them at her for a distraction and headbutted her. Both the heroes groaned in pain, who knew the little reaper had such a hard head?

"Why would you do that?" Ruby looked at him with crocodile tears in her eyes, making Jaune pause again.

' _This is getting ridiculous. I don't have time to be playing around here.'_ Ruby rushed him again and Jaune blocked the first punch, she used her semblance to land a lot more punches but Jaune's own were hitting harder. Jaune grabbed Ruby's arm and tried to throw her over his head, but she wrapped her legs around his head and started beating on it.

"Go to sleep! Go to sleep!" With the helmet beating against him and her repeating those words, he started getting a headache and he removed his mask for a moment to lick the exposed part of her leg. The _attack_ fulfilled its purpose as Ruby yelped and stopped her barrage, allowing Jaune to slam the both of them into the ground with a powerbomb. Ruby rubbed her head and opened her eyes to see Jaune over her, a punch ready to knock her out.

"It's over, rosie." Ruby stared at him for a moment and spit into his eye, before kneeing him in the family jewels. Jaune groaned rolling to the side, as she stood.

"Honor was getting boring." Jaune grabbed her leg and threw her onto her back, before pulling out his sword and impaling her school skirt.

"Try to get out of that, I wouldn't mind the view." Ruby blushed as she tried to remove the blade, but the knight had stabbed it deep into the concrete. Jaune stretched and smirked at Ruby. "Thanks for the work out, but I'm afraid I really must be going."

"Hey! Back off creep!"

Jaune felt the impact of a bullet bounce off his armor and he looked to see a blond girl with red eyes. "What are doing to my sister?!"

' _Oh shit…'_ Jaune leaned on his sword, ignoring the small ripping noises he was causing. "Look Goldilocks, your sister wanted to fight me and I agreed. She's just fine."

"Yang help! He hurt me!" Ruby shouted in her best little-sister-in-danger voice. "He also threatened to do bad touching things!" Jaune stared at the red head in shock and turned back to a fist and a shotgun shell meeting him in the face. Smashing through a fireplace, Jaune shook his head and tackled Yang as the two traded punch after punch. Yang kicked the knight off her and freed Ruby, Jaune slid between them and took back his blade. Yang told Ruby to go and she'll deal with the knight, but the girl refused.

Jaune sighed and turned his sheath into a shield ready for the two sister's attack, just as an explosion shakes the building they were on. The three rush to look at what happened and see several White Fang members coming out of the building with multiple cases of dust. Following them from the haze was an orange-haired man wearing a bowler hat and a stylish white coat (which was oddly untouched by the debris). Said well-dressed man was ordering them, and was accompanied by a girl with pink, brown, and white hair holding a pink umbrella.

"Roman Torchwick!" Ruby shouted as she prepared to rush at him, but Yang held her back due to her lack of weapon.

"So that's Roman… Hey Goldilocks, why don't we go say hello?" Yang didn't trust the knight, but she did want to get back at the first man who attacked her sister.

"If you think you can keep up." Yang jumped and used her gauntlet to fly into one White Fang member and smash him into the ground. Jaune rolled his eyes and jumped down, rushing at Roman with his sword but to be stopped by the girl with the umbrella.

"So this is the one that killed the goons from before? Interesting... Cinder wants this one alive, Neo. So please do _try_ to treat him with the best of your behavior." Roman said as Neo nodded and started to push Jaune back. The girl was incredibly strong, but Jaune used his shield to knock away the umbrella and kick Neo away. She immediately recovered from the blow and came at him again, but when Jaune slashed at the girl she shattered on impact. The real Neo sped behind him and used her umbrella to strike him in back and easily dodge several bullets when Jaune pulled out his gun on her.

"Stay still!" Jaune shouted as she was approaching him quickly and knocked away both the gun and his sword, making him attack her with his fists. Neo made a silent giggle as she easily parried each punch and kick the knight attempted, easily landing blow upon blow on his person. Jaune danced around her as they he tried to knee, kick, and punch her; but found her defense to be unbreakable. Jaune rolled away from her and grabbed his sword, holding it with two hands and glared at the girl. Neo pulled her own blade out of her umbrella and the two found every slash to be met by the other. Neo backflipped and kicked him in the chin, ending the attack by sitting on the pile of White Fang members that Yang had beaten and smiling.

' _What the hell is she?! She's playing around like it's a game? That was enough to at least wind a normal huntsman! Okay, so I can't win this the normal way… How about the Ruby way?'_ Jaune smiled and rushed at her again, as expected she met his attack but this time Jaune spit in her face. She made a disgusted face and Jaune whacked her in the face with his elbow, knocking her back. "Yeah I got you! Oh shit!" Neo frowned and immediately entered a barrage of punches and kicks at his face, pushing him back and not allowing a moment rest. She smashed her umbrella handle into his face and pulled out her blade to finish him, but a red streak slammed into her. "Ruby?"

Rose Rose smiled and stuck her tongue out at Jaune. "I told you already. I'm the one who gets to take you in, no one else." She stuck her hand out and Jaune took it, the two ready to fight Neo. The girl looked unimpressed and was about to attack when Roman called out for her. From the looks of things, Torchwick was quickly losing ground in his fight with Yang. Neo kicked Yang into the shop they had broken earlier and grabbed Roman, opening her umbrella as a Bullhead appeared above them; the winds lifting the duo off the ground. Jaune grabbed his gun and shot at the machine, but each bullet was hit by arrows as a woman in black stared at the knight.

"Not bad, but I expected something better." The woman shot an arrow at Jaune and Ruby that exploded into smoke. The two were left coughing as Roman's voice called out.

"This was fun! 'till next time kiddies!"

"That guy really annoys me." Ruby said as she turned to Jaune, only to see that he had disappeared. "Wow, talk about leaving a girl hanging. How rude." She pouted before running off to go get her sister as the police arrived on the scene.

' _Always right on time'_ Jaune rolled his eyes and turned away for the scene, having had enough excitement for the night.

. . .

Well, that was a lie. Instead of going back to his current place of residence, Jaune went on that night to beat up several more would-be crooks. He took off his outfit and yawned as he made it back to the clock tower, but was denied the embrace of Morpheus as O appeared on screen.

"I see that doing small work was asking for too much?"

"I tried, but there were a few complications I didn't expect to hinder me."

"Ah yes, Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. Two sisters that very much are like their father and uncle, but you've seen that yourself. I take it that you didn't want to harm the girls? I saw that you didn't use your weapons."

"Yeah well- Wait, how did you know that?" Jaune watched as O played a video feed that seemed to taken from his suit. "You bugged my suit?!"

"Qrow said that you had picked up his tendency to get into trouble so we agreed that on the off chance you were captured, this camera would help us in finding you."

Jaune sighed as the reasoning behind the camera made perfect sense. "Fine, but any and all new additions will be discussed with me!"

"Of course, but it seems that the two siblings weren't the best to try and improve your image." O said as he cut to a news report where Ruby was saying how cool he was when he fought Neo, but Yang went off on him saying how he was beating up a little girl and even tried to touch her. Jaune groaned and held his head in shame, while O chuckled. "Yes, while today is a step backwards, not all is not lost. The huntresses didn't give off the view of you as some psychotic killer and your name is known through Vale now for better or worse. Not to mention that a few more misguided White Fang members are off the streets. I think you should count today as a neutral victory."

"Right, I'll think about that. Good night O."

"Have a good sleep, tomorrow is another day." Jaune fell on his bed and immediately went into a deep sleep.

Ozpin sighed as he looked over the footage of Roman versus Yang and Ruby and Jaune versus Neo. "So are these your pawns? Well, the game has just begun." Ozpin leaned back and sipped his coffee.

. . .

Jaune woke by the sound of an alarm and he groaned, a note was beside the clock. It read: _Dear Mr. SK, It had come to my attention that you didn't have an alarm for your morning activities. I hope this one is satisfactory. Regards -O_. The clock was green and showed the inners gears all moving. Despite it being annoying, the clock itself was actually really cool. Jaune got ready and took a shower, not fully used to the running water concept after so many years, and started heading off towards the milk bar.

On the way, he stopped by the scene from yesterday and saw the damaged he _didn't in any conceivable way cause._ He thought about what he was able to observe about Roman and the girl Neo. Roman seemed to be a control freak and a fashion lover and his ability to hold off Yang as long as he did was impressive for someone who seemed rather prone to send in grunts to fight instead of doing the work himself. Neo, on the other hand, was a much bigger enigma. She was super fast, had super strength, seemed to be quite young or at least short, and was able to create illusions. She was also a mute as the giggle and shocked look she gave when Roman was in danger, she was completely silent. Roman put great trust into her and showed that they had a bond; possibly a daughter-father bond? Girlfriend or lover seemed extremely unlikely. Friends? It didn't appear to be that way. From what Jaune managed to observe, it certainly went deeper than simple friendship. Then there was the woman in the Bullhead- the woman dressed in black. The outfit covered her from view, except he could see she had black hair and amber eyes. Oh, and from what he could tell, the curves she had in all the right places. Let's not forget about that.

Jaune opened the door to his bar, all the while ignoring the eyes of a certain raven watching him. He made sure everything was ready for when Ruby and Blake would arrive, before heading to the kitchen and fixing up cookies and cinnamon rolls. When he returned to the counter, the door opened to the sight of Ruby, Blake, Yang, and a fourth one he didn't know. The sisters went to the games while Blake went to the books, but the fourth one looked around unimpressed.

"Is there anything I can get you… Snow Angel?" Jaune said, but that just earned him a glare.

"My name is Weiss Schnee and no thank you."

' _Schnee? Well that explains the attitude problem, but I wonder why she would hang out with this group? I suppose that she must be one of their partners.'_ Jaune shrugged and went into the kitchen, pulling out the buns and cookies and putting them out. The scent was caught by Ruby instantly and she made her way to them, stopping only to talk with Jaune. "How you doing Ruby? I saw you on the news last night."

Ruby was eating several cookies and nodded. "I fought the knight that attacked the White Fang two nights ago."

' _At least she didn't say murdered.'_

"He was kinda lame and tried a bit too hard to be dark and brooding."

' _Well fuck you too then.'_

"But he didn't seem too bad, a bit dumb but not bad."

' _Now I feel a teeny bit like the bad guy.'_ Jaune nodded and smiled, rubbing her hair. "Just be careful next time, I don't want to lose my favorite customer." Ruby blushed and just chewed her cookie as her teammates ate the sweets, and for once Ruby didn't care.

"T-thanks Jaune…"

. . .

Far from the bar, Cinder Fall smiled as she watched footage of the fight Roman had with the knight and students. She stood and opened a case that had a beating heart inside. It was blindingly white with black veins.

"So the knight does have allies within the school, very well Ozpin. Let's see how your tools deal with this…"


	4. Chapter 4

The Raven's Call! Infiltrate Beacon!

 _A blond boy was crying as the sounds of battle assaulted his eardrums. His twin sister was leading him by the hand as they ran. She was calm and collected, as opposed to his emotional state, and looked for any path to safety. Turning she hugged her brother and tried to calm his crying. Even then, the sounds of his father's fighting whoever was growing even more distant._

"It's okay Jaune, don't cry. We'll be okay and daddy will come find us soon, I promise!"

' _Liar…'_

"Remember what dad says, an Arc never breaks their word and an Arc never lies!"

' _Fool…'_

"He'll beat back that mean man, but he needs us to run now. Get up!"

' _Weak…'_

"Something's coming! We have to go now!"

' _Useless'_

"Oh no, he's here… I love you bro, remember that. I'm so sorry for this." The girl punched her brother hard in the face, knowing that he was weak enough from his own emotional pain to be knocked out from the blow. Jaune fell unable to move due to pain and fear, but he could see as his dear sister faced the man with blades on his hands. The thin pale man's dark hair was moved like a tail of an animal his father showed him once, a scorpion. He laughed as the girl agreed to go with him, but the children's father jumped out of the woods holding the family's legendary sword and shield. Crocea Mors slashed the scorpion man in the back, but he immediately paid the favor back by stabbing the father in the throat with his tail and again in the heart. The blood splattered all the way to Jaune.

He slapped a hand over his mouth as the boy watched his father fight for his life in vain. His sister screamed and tried to help, but was smacked to the ground. The scorpion let the body fall and took the sister, laughing as he vanished. Jaune cried for what felt like ages, and only when he calmed down, did he realize much time had passed. He came out of hiding and approached his father's body. Those dead eyes stared without seeing, but his hand still gripped the blade. Jaune screamed at the sky for his uselessness and for taking so much from him.

"I'm so sorry… I promise to make this right… No matter what it takes." He wiped away his tears and blood before he kissed his father goodbye and pried the shield and blade from his cool hands.

"I'll get her back and make him pay." Jaune whispered as the clouds above rained down on him.

. . .

Jaune woke from his nightmare and sighed as he looked over at the once famous blade and shield that were leaning against the wall. He had painted them so they wouldn't give him away as the Shadow Knight, but the paint wouldn't last more than a few days. It was as if the blade itself was trying to remind Jaune of who he was, but Jaune knew the truth. He was nothing like that boy once was. That boy had died when his father was killed, that was what his family believed. It's what they needed to believe. Dreams of that night were happening more often, and since then, he finally felt like he was getting somewhere with finding the scorpion man.

It had been a few days since he had fought with Neo and Ruby and he was able to slowly fight for his reputation, catching thieves and small time murderers. Ruby and her friends still made it to the milk bar every other day, they talked about her school or his future plans. She was nothing like Qrow, who only talked about himself when he was so beyond drunk it wasn't funny, she was excited for the unknown that the future would bring and more than happy to share some of her past once she got out of her shell. Jaune smiled at the thought of Ruby and those that he could count as friends. He looked in the nearby mirror and for a moment, the image of a sad little boy with blood on his face appeared before changing to that of the knight with red eyes. Jaune blinked and the changing images finally went back to normal. Jaune shook his head and ignored the shifting images. He took a deep breath and turned, leaving his home for work.

. . .

Jaune was the only one on the chilly streets, but that didn't really bother him as it gave him time to think. He noticed that a bird was following him, but it wasn't a crow so it wasn't his mentor coming in for a friendly visit. Jaune rolled his eyes at the thought. No, if Qrow was here then; he had a job for the young knight. He yawned while opening the door to his bar and after making some donuts for whoever came in, the door opened to three new customers. The first was a girl with orange hair, a wild smile, and aqua colored eyes. She wore a theme of pink and white clothes, but the giant hammer on her back was a surprise. The second was a magenta-eyed boy with dark hair that had a strand of magenta. He was dressed in green and white and looked to be examining everything, should be careful to not make any wrong moves around him. The last was a redheaded emerald-eyed girl covered in armor. If Jaune had to describe her in a word it would be impressive.

"Hi, anything I can help you three with? Maybe a sweet or some games?" The orange haired girl excitedly accepted the donut and got a glass of milk before going to play games. The boy sighed and said they didn't have money, but the redhead agreed to pay so he ordered grape juice and went to make sure his friend didn't accidentally destroy the system. "Those two seem to be good friends."

The redhead nodded and ordered orange juice. "They have been together forever, but not together-together… yet." She added the end in a whisper and the two shared a laugh. Jaune learned that this was Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie, sister team to Ruby's. Pyrrha was the team leader and a famous warrior in her own right, basically another prodigy like Ruby. Nora had an obsession with pancakes that rivaled Ruby's with cookies and the hyperactivity to match. Then there was Ren, who seemed to be a man of little words, but from what he could tell; his abilities spoke louder than he ever could. They spent the day together and Jaune wondered what it would have been like if he had gone to Beacon, would he have had a team like this? A question he would never have answered, but would have been content with if he had. The thought brought a small smile to his face. The day flew by before they had to go back to Beacon, but they promised to come back and visit again.

Jaune smiled as he locked up the bar, but the raven from before dived at him. Instinct saved him as the raven became a woman rushing at him with a red blade, but he dodged thanked to the years of Qrow doing the same. The woman wore a white grimm mask and dressed in dark red, the color of blood. Jaune went for his blade, but remembered that he wasn't on his alias as the knight now.

' _This is bad.'_ Jaune thought.

"That fool of a brother of mine really did train you, didn't he boy? I never took him to be able to take care of a child, much less raise one as his own. You should be dead." At this Jaune rose an eyebrow.

"Brother? But Qrow never mentioned-"

"He wouldn't talk to you about me if he could help it." The woman interrupted, waving her free hand nonchalantly. "So my little knight, since my brother had used you for so long I think I deserve a turn."

Jaune took a small half-step back. "Uhh no offense, but as beautiful as you are, I still think I'm a little too young for you." Jaune couldn't tell, but he was sure that the women claiming to be Qrow's sister was rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"Wow, he gave you his sense of humor too? Heaven help Remnant. No you fool, I need you to simply retrieve something I need."

Jaune's eyes narrowed. "Why can't you get it yourself?

"Because I am actually busy, besides you should be able to into the place way easier than me and I would have a lot more fun killing the people there."

"Where is this thing? What is it and why should I help you?"

"If you refuse to assist me then not only will your face and identity be exposed, but I'll go to someone else. Maybe Ms. Rose?"

Jaune tightened his fists, he couldn't let that happen. "Fine I agree…" Raven smiled behind her mask and the two walked to the clock tower so Jaune could get his gear. She looked around the hideout with interest. "Don't steal anything from me." Raven scoffed as the boy put on his own mask.

"Oh please like you have anything I want. Let me ask boy, why are you doing this? This game of playing hero, they hate you so why continue?"

"I don't do this for wealth or fame, I do it because it's what is right." Jaune put in his contacts and avoided the mirror, afraid of what he would see.

"I see my brother put his self righteous bullshit into your head also, how disappointing."

Jaune bit his tongue to keep from lashing out and turned to her. "Where is this item and that is it?" Raven slashed the air and a red portal appeared. The two walked through and Jaune froze as he was now in front of Beacon. "Beacon… what could you possibly want from here?!"

Raven chuckled at his reaction. "Well, nice to see you keeping your cool. There is a book that I want you to steal in the restricted section of the library, but you will first need to get the key from Headmaster Ozpin's desk at the top of Beacon Tower. The book is titled _The Cursed Man and the Thousand Souls._ Now if you would hurry, I don't want to wait all night."

Raven turned to her portal, but Jaune couldn't resist a stab at the woman. "Don't you want to know how your daughter is doing or is making others take care of your problems for you something you just enjoy doing?" The woman took her mask off and the glare she gave him froze him in fear, but he was able to hold her gaze. She left him in silence and Jaune sighed trying to think of a plan.

. . .

Jaune decided that trying to go around the school as the knight was more trouble than it was worth, so he found an empty room and crawled through the window. After shedding his armor, Jaune dug in the drawers around the room for a uniform. All the clothes seemed to be for girls, except for one that fit him. Jaune groaned as he put his contacts off and put on the outfit, a blue bunny onesie, and equipped his sword in case someone needed to be knocked out.

He was actually able to find the library without any difficulty, but Raven was right and behind the counter was a locked door with a strange keyhole that resembled a clock. Jaune stalked the halls carefully and looked for any elevator or stairs to get to the tower, but quickly found himself distracted as he found a group of bullies who were pulling at a rabbit faunus's ears. Jaune sighed as he walked over and pulled his blade.

"Leave the girl alone, didn't anyone teach you manners?" The leader of the group looked to be a egotistical jerk by his expression, he looked angry someone dared stop him.

"Oh look fellas, a knight in a onesie! Well Mr. Knight, you see it's just we are having fun and we don't want to leave her alone. Maybe you should just mind your own business and go awa-" The boy was interrupted by Jaune pulling his blade out and having at his throat in a moment.

"Look, I can see you are an idiot so let me use small words that your tiny brain can understand. I am tired and this is a has turned out to be a real shitty night for me, so you can just leave her alone from now on I'll appreciate that. Or, I can send you all back to your room in separate bags." Jaune kicked the leader in the crotch and the rest of his posse ran off, leaving the gargantuan bully whimpering on the ground in pain. Turning around, ignoring the whimpering of a man in pain, Jaune saw the faunus on the ground nursing her ears.

"Are you okay miss?" Jaune held his hand to her. The brown-haired girl blushed and took the hand, whispering thanks over and over. "Don't thank me, happy to help. I'm Jaune."

"V-Velvet. Thank you again, but I should get back to my team. S-see you later!" Jaune waved and focused on his mission, but a voice called out and he felt his sword fly off him.

"I knew I heard something! Students must be in their dorms now, you can report to me tomorrow for your weapon."

' _Fuck me… fuck Raven too.'_ Jaune chased the voice and caught sight of the woman who took his blade, blonde, older, purple cape, glasses, and a wand? He followed her through the maze of identical hallways and seeing her enter some type of office. He looked into one of the windows and saw the woman at a desk with his sword leaning against the wall, it was next to some red thing. ' _I need to get her out of the room and quickly get my blade back, but what to use as a distraction?'_

"Hey Jaune."

"Hey Ruby."

Jaune was snapped back to reality as a smiling Ruby was sitting in front of him in her pajamas. "Ruby, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? And what's with the onesie? You are at my school after all. Did you get accepted at Beacon?!" Ruby squealed in joy at the thought of her friend joining the school and having him cook sweets whenever she wants.

"Sorry to disappoint you Rubes, but I'm here because the headmaster wanted me to talk to me about uhh getting my sweets sent here to be served and how much I would be paid for them." Jaune prayed that Ruby would accept the lie, but at the same time parts of him didn't as his father's saying came back to his mind. ' _An Arc never lies…'_

"Oh really so I can get your sweets here? Well, I guess I won't be going to the bar as much." Ruby joked and Jaune faked being hurt.

"Ouch my soul, just when I thought we were friends. But seriously, what are you doing up?"

Ruby blushed and poked her fingertips together. "Well, I may have eaten the school's supply of cookie dough on free cookie day and Ms. Goodwitch took my baby Crescent Rose and locked him in here."

Jaune sighed at the girls obsession, but a plan came to his mind. "She took my weapon too, it's a old family heirloom I need back. We can work together to get our weapons, but first we need a distraction." Ruby smirked deviously and vanished in bundles of rose petals, just to appear back with something fuzzy in her arms.

"Allow me to introduce you to the greatest being in Remnant! Zwei the corgi!" Ruby shoved the tiny dog in his face and it sniffed him happily.

"Are you sure you want to risk your little friend? What if he gets caught?"

"That's just it, Zwei here is the champion of the shadows and was able to sneak to Signal everyday with me. The only time he was nearly caught was when he chased the smell of some kid's dog treats he forgot to take out his bag."

Jaune didn't like the idea of sending an innocent pup to his doom, but he needed to get out of the school before he was noticed so sacrifices must be made. "Fine, I hope you're sure about this." Ruby whispered the plan to Zwei and not two minutes later an explosion was heard and Goodwitch ran out towards the noise, allowing Jaune and Ruby to rush in and grab their weapons. Ruby was about to separate from Jaune, but he grabbed her hood and pulled her back. "Ruby, which way is the elevator to the headmaster's office? I got lost."

"Go down this hall, turn left, then right, and then left again."

"Thanks, you're the best!" Jaune kissed her forehead and ran off, leaving a blushing and shell shocked rose themes girl. He finally arrived at the elevator and took it to the top, doors opening to nothing but a empty desk. He looked around the impressive mechanics of the tower and on the glass desk was a single gear that had a key connected to it. "This is too easy…" Jaune whispered as he took the key and began to make his way to the elevator and took it down.

"How interesting, he is truly nothing more than a simple child. I hope you can protect our simple soul Jaune, I fear that new foes are coming and alone you will burn. The day will arrive where the die shall be cast, and you will be my gamble." Ozpin appeared in the room and looked out his balcony, feeling as small souls call out for a sense of peace he can not give them…

. . .

Jaune found the library again and unlocked the restricted section, there was only a single bookshelf and each book were different sizes and seemed to be ancient. Some didn't even have names that Jaune could read as they were in some foreign language. Finally, he found the one Raven wanted and retraced his steps back to the room with his suit. He slipped it on and jumped out the window, heading for where Raven had first opened the portal. Jaune stopped in front of the Beacon statue as Pyrrha Nikos stood in his way with her armor and weapons glittering in the moonlight. Jaune stood and stared at her, the two didn't say anything but neither faltered under the others gaze.

"Pyrrha Nikos. Champion of the people, a beacon of hope, and the best that the kingdoms have to offer. Isn't that right? Now, I don't want to tell a young woman like yourself how to live her life, but I need you to stay out of my way." Pyrrha aimed her rifle at him. "Sheesh, tough crowd. Okay, looks like I'll just have to make you move." Jaune pulled out his blade and shield and Pyrrha did the same. "Aren't you going to say anything? This is starting to feel like my last date night."

"Why?" The single word question caught Jaune off guard.

"What?"

"Why? Why do you do this? You put on your costume and immediately become a target of the White Fang and the huntsmen, so what is it that tells you this pain and death is worth it?"

"I've never killed anyone."

"But you failed to save them and now the people of Vale are left confused, trust the Shadow Knight or hunt him like a grimm. You know that no matter what I think of your cause, I can't let you leave."

"I fight because I feel that have I lost too much to act like the way a true huntsman should. The goals of Huntsmen and Huntresses differ from my own. I can't force myself to work those who won't believe my way of solving issues isn't the most moral of ways. I don't kill innocents. I will only kill one man and you aren't him. But stand in my way, and I won't promise you'll leave without any injuries." Jaune rushed her and started out doing several jabs at her chest, but each was dodged or blocked. ' _She has incredibly fast reflexes and is quite agile, but she seems to hold herself with some sort of pride that she isn't taking this too seriously.'_ Jaune slashed at her legs, just as she jumped and kicked him in the jaw. Backing up, she began her own assault. She was an amazing fighter and all he could think of as she fought him with grace and ferocity was that it seemed to be right out of the stories Qrow had told him of the Amazons. He saw her jab at his chest plate, but moved at the last moment so her sword would get stuck in the statue behind him. Jaune elbowed her in the face and took her blade, throwing it at her. Pyrrha used her semblance to stop the blade and throw Jaune into the statue's base.

"You know what will happen if you don't stop this! You will die!" Jaune stood and glared at the girl.

"I accepted that possibility a long time ago, but until then, I will do things my way. I'll fight for what I think is right!" Jaune shouted and rammed into her with his shield, knocking her back and tried running past her. Pyrrha threw her shield at his back and jumped at him when it knocked him down, but Jaune blocked the attack as the swords contact caused sparks. Jaune stared into her deep green eyes and kicked her off, standing and slashes at her, but suddenly he lost control of his blade and missed. The metal actively went against the target and she began to beat on him with her shield. Jaune quickly sheathed his sword and pulled out his revolver, aiming at the ground between them and shot. The explosion blasted both fighters away, but Jaune was quicker to get back to his feet and aimed at Pyrrha as she tried to stand again. "I wish I could see the world like you, but I can't. I'm leaving."

"No, you're lying to yourself. This is over." Her words didn't register until he was getting shot by some kind of grenade. The impact nearly knocked him off the school grounds, but he stood to see the school had woken up from the sounds of the two fighting. Nora had shot him with her grenade launcher and the rest of the student body now had their weapons.

Jaune looked at the dozens of students and chuckled to himself as he put his revolver away, after listening to nothing for a moment, he stared at all the students. "I won't stop until this is over. I feel something bigger than all of us is at play here, and I will find out just exactly what that is."

Jaune opened his arms and fell back, going into free fall towards Vale. Pyrrha jumped to her feet, grabbed her weapons, jumped off after him, with Ruby following close behind. Jaune landed on the roof of a passing Bullhead he had heard and was about to relax when Pyrrha slammed into him. The two were knocked off the airship and proceeded to fight in freefall. Jaune landed several punches on her stomach and she paid him back with a few kicks on his bruised ribs. The two were spinning until Jaune could see the ground approaching, Pyrrha would be smashed underneath him,

"Tell me… do you believe in destiny?" Pyrrha asked and Jaune stared at her before he spun them and whispered a single word.

"No."

They smashed into the ground and caused a large crater. Ruby soon arrived safely on the ground using her bullets to slow her decent, but she looked up to see the knight coming out of the dust cloud carrying Pyrrha over to her. The redhead had a bleeding wound on her head that her aura was already fixing. "She's fine, but the fall knocked her out when her head slammed against my armor. Take her back to Beacon." Jaune could feel his broken ribs and decided that he would call in sick tomorrow.

"Shadow!" Jaune turned and Ruby stared at him. "I believe that we were always destined to meet. I won't let you go next time!" Jaune smiled under his mask and winked at the girl.

"Whenever you're ready, I'll be waiting for you… _Hero_." Jaune walked the way back to Vale and quickly found a empty alley so he could shed his costume. The last thing he needed was to be caught after such a long night, Raven was inside his bar enjoying a glass of milk. "I never took you for a milk drinking type of woman." Jaune tried to laugh, but his ribs cried in pain at the action.

Raven's gaze hardened. "An old annoying friend got me into many childish habits, milk and cookies was one. She might have liked you, a fool who doesn't know when he is outmatched and has no hope to win."

"If you believe you have no hope to win than you already lost."

"And that mindset is what separates us from huntsmen. Now where is my book?" Jaune tossed her the prize and she smile, it held not an ounce of humor or warmth. "Good boy. Well, I must be going. I do wish you luck, you will need it for what is coming to Vale."

Raven vanished into the night and Jaune sighed as the peace and silence allowed him to finally sleep.

. . .

Cinder smiled at her apprentices, Emerald and Mercury, as she beats on a girl of no older than nine. The little one had glasses, multi colored eyes, torn clothes with a faded Atlas symbol on them, and consistently color changing hair. She spit blood out at Cinder's face.

"Now little one, do you enjoy pain that much."

The girl smiled showing teeth. "You get used to it, but my answer is the same. I won't help you…"

Cinder smiled as she threw the girl hard into a wall. "We shall see what Tyrian has to say to that… Emerald darling make sure that Roman got our little _gift_ for the knight ready. Send him some Grimm as well, they will be needed."

(A/N - Hiya peoples! I have sent thanks to everyone who followed or favorited and that was a lot of damn people. Thanks again. Sorry to bother you all at the end, but I had forgotten to personally thank a friend who has given me great ideas for this story! So thank you poetrymagic12! Till next chapter!)


	5. Chapter 5

A Day with a Rose! Roman's Wish!

Jaune shook and woke, confused on exactly where he was for a moment, but the night's activities returned and he saw his armor in the corner of his bar. He tried to stand, but the pain in his chest was enormous. He barely stood when the pain sent him crashing to the ground.

"I d-don't want to be a huntsman Qrow… I want to be a superhero… great idea Jaune." He sighed and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as he tried to think of something.

" _You are truly pathetic, dying on the floor like scum."_ Jaune groaned and opened them to see the Knight glaring at him with his red eyes. " _Get up and get yourself healed, this town won't defend itself."_

"There are police… I think…" Jaune chuckled and the Knight rolled his eyes. "Wait, I am not talking to my imagination like some freak. Get out of here."

" _Well, you just did talk to me so I think that makes you a freak."_ Jaune gave him a weak glare.

"You're an asshole."

" _What does that make you?"_

"A fucking badass." That one managed to get a laugh from the Knight, but it sounded different then Jaune's, more deeper and less genuine. The two stared at each other and he turned his head towards the door of the bar. "What?"

" _Something fast is coming… if it's here for you then throw the armor behind the counter!"_ Jaune's eyes widen and he threw the armor over his head, hearing several glasses smash, but it was hidden from view. Just in time as the Knight's word proved true and Ruby Rose came into the bar wearing a large smile, one that disappeared once she saw him in pain. She rushed to his side and helped him to his feet.

"Jaune! What happened?!" The panic in her voice was enough to sting Jaune in the heart, another lie to someone who trusted him.

"I was trying to add new lights in the back and part of the roof crushed my chest. I was able to crawl out and get as far as you saw, guess I do need one of those scroll things huh?"

"We are going to get you one as soon you are out of the hospital." Ruby's tone didn't leave room to argue.

"Wait! Ruby, there is something at my home that can fix me up! Head towards the old clock tower!" The hooded girl blushed at thought of entering a boy's house, but shook the thoughts away and carried the knight to the tower.

"This is where you live? A little bit of a fixer upper."

"It gets the job done." The two entered and Ruby laid him on his bed as she went to find the thing that could heal him. "Okay, look in that chest and there should be a plant that glows with a light green color." Ruby nodded and saw the plant, but it radiated with aura.

"Jaune… what is this?" She stared at it and could feel her own aura getting stronger.

"Umm, it's a plant I found before I came to Vale. My father and I concluded that it could either boost aura or, what I'm going to use it for, be a substitute for the stuff. That plant should be able to heal me after laying it on my chest." Jaune had actually found it in the Grimmlands and Qrow was drunk so he turned it into tea, and after drinking it Jaune felt amazing. Ruby heard something hit the ground and blushed as red as her name when she turned and saw a shirtless Jaune. "What?"

"I-I uhh w-wow…" Ruby shook her head and laid the plant on him with her hood covering her face and eyes.

"Ahh, that feels so much better. So Ruby, not that I'll ever complain at seeing your beautiful face, but why were at my bar so early in the day?"

"Well…"

. . .

 _Ruby opened her eyes and found herself in a strange new environment, but it didn't feel dangerous. She smiled as she looked around the room, it wasn't too big but it held a treasure trove of memories. A picture of herself and her team, her with her mom, sister and dad, and picture of a older Ruby in a wedding dress with a man whose face was blocked by the sun. Crescent Rose was on the wall with the title of 'Mark One' and next to it was a familiar sword and shield. They were white and blue and the shield had a symbol of arcs?_

 _Ruby got off her bed and opened the drawer and found one outfit, a version of her normal one, but this one was white and red and had extra armor pieces. Next to the outfit was Crescent Rose Mark Three, a red and white scythe with a sniper and shotgun feature, it could break off and become a spear, and the blade had more of a typical blade._

" _Gotta love the classics…" She whispered to herself as she smelled something sweet coming from downstairs. She rushed down and heard little voices, at the table eating were several kids that all looked like her in some way. One had blonde hair and red tips, another had her hair and childish face, but the third one was the only one with her silver eyes._

" _Honey Rose? Something wrong?" She looked up at the speaker and saw a flash of blonde hair and a sweet smile, before a bright light illuminated everything..._

. . .

Ruby sat up in her bed, sweating and looking around, she was back at her room at Beacon. That was all just a dream. Ruby put a hand on her racing heart and was surprised to find that she wanted to cry a bit, the dream had given her a feeling of accomplishment and was basically everything she wanted when she was older. That family she saw wasn't real, those children weren't real. But the one that was cooking, could it have been because of last night when she saw him?

"Jaune?" Ruby whispered and checked the time. She felt the urge to see him and quickly and quietly got dressed, bring her weapon this time, deciding to leave on the first airship into Vale. She caught the airship and unsurprisingly she was the only passenger, it was the weekend after all so people didn't really wake early. She decided to use her semblance to run her way to the bar, the moment the doors opened she was out like a bullet, for a moment something pink was in her vision, but decided it must have been some kid with ice cream or something.

. . .

"It's a long story… so it looks like you're okay to move. Uhh I-I was wondering if you wanted to go and maybe spendthedaytogether?" Jaune looked at her and deciphered what she asked, chuckling and messing with her hair.

"I'd love that Ruby." Ruby blushed and pouted about her hair, waiting outside as Jaune got dressed and the two first headed to the scroll shop. Jaune use the profits he made from bar to get the device, but Ruby had to show him all it could do and how to call someone.

"Hey Jaune? Can I ask you your opinion on dreams?" Ruby asked nervously and blushed.

Jaune put a hand on his chin. "Dreams huh? Well, my mom used to say that dreams are wishes you make with your heart. They can be something you want or are too afraid to accept when awake. I always saw them as things you wish you could do over and maybe you could have been like that."

Ruby touched her heart and took a deep breath. "A dream is a wish you make with your heart…"

The two went out for breakfast at Nora's favorite breakfast restaurant, she says they almost make food as good as Ren's, and Ruby was embarrassed again as Jaune laughed and wiped her face when the syrup from her chocolate chip pancakes got on her. The two talked about the misadventures that Team RWBY and Team PRN have been on, including the case of the missing cookies (Ruby did it) and the case of the haircut (Yang flipped when she saw a strand of her missing but it was her who accidently pulled it off with her brush). Ruby mentioned that things have gotten a little hostel in the team room because Weiss and Blake have been arguing about the White Fang and whether or not they have cause to be angry. Jaune thought back when he was little, he remembered his mom told him to be nice to all creatures as they have the right to life just as much as you do. He never knew how bad things were for the Faunus as all he knew were stories from Qrow.

The two walked to the weapon shop and Ruby asked Jaune about his weapon that they had saved from Ms. Goodwitch. He rubbed his head and said it was a sword and shield, that made her blush as she changed the subject and went on about her weapons multi available upgrades. Jaune decided to buy her an upgrade as she did save his life, all the way to the arcade she didn't stop saying thanks. The two entered and bought a card that let them play the games, the first was a twin shooter (Ruby easily topped the board), The second was a strength test (Jaune chuckled as he won and Ruby went on a rant about how speed beats strength any day), third was a versus on Dance Revolution (Jaune was able to keep up with his dance skills and Ruby with her speed, the match with both getting a perfect score), the last game was a go karts race (Ruby was losing until the end where she _accidently_ bumped him and he spun out).

They decided that maybe they could go watch a movie. Ruby wanted to see the new Xray and Vav movie and went on a long explanation as Jaune said he never saw the previous ones. Jaune had to admit it sounded like something he would love and the two agreed to spend a day watching the other movies together, the two watched the movie and Jaune found himself sucked into the characters and action. Ruby nearly jumped out of her seat at the climax and the teasing of the next movie.

The two went on a walk around town as it was late noon and suddenly their scrolls vibrated and Roman Torchwick appeared with a smile…

. . .

Roman was having a shitty day, first his boss gives him a freaky looking beating heart then she sends over a whole pack of Grimm. She gave him a bunch of instructions and he sighed as he and Neo started for the Beacon Airship Station. His first task was to shut down the airship for the day so no huntsmen could get into Vale, but Neo gave a pleading pout and Roman went out of his way to buy her some ice cream. When he arrived at the BAS the first airship of the day was arriving, but it was the weekend so there was most likely no one on it. Roman told Neo to knock out anyone that was in the ship as he destroyed the controls and tied up the workers, but when the airship opened all Neo felt was a gust of wind. A trail of rose petals led out of the ship, but she shrugged and licked her ice cream happily.

Roman's next stop was temporarily knocking out the CCT tower's connection to Beacon. His boss sent a strange device that would put Beacon in a small bubble, no calls or messages could into or out of Beacon for ten hours. A handy device that some genius child had made apparently, but this was the only one as the child refused to make more. Roman turned it on and eliminated huntsmen from his little equation, but the last part was the one that disturbed him.

 _Unleash the Grimm on Vale until the Shadow Knight appears and then throw the heart into the pack._ Unleash the Grimm? In Vale that would be murdering a few people no matter how fast the knight was. Roman Torchwick would be the first to admit he wasn't the most law-abiding citizen or even wanted to be one, but the murder of random people who did nothing wasn't something he wanted on his conscience. He'd get the knight out here a different way. Roman looked around and realized the one thing everyone in Vale had, scrolls.

"Okay Neo, let's take it from the top. Hello people of Vale! I, Roman Torchwick, the greatest criminal mastermind has a challenge for the Shadow Knight! There are Grimm in these cages that I will release onto the people of Vale if you do not come and stop them! If you think any huntsman are coming to save the day, I hate to disappoint but the ignorant huntsmen will not find out this knowledge until it's far too late! Now meet me in town square or allow the people to suffer, your choice knight." Neo shut off the camera and gave a thumbs up. Roman sighed and fanned himself with his hat, Neo offered him a spoonful of her ice cream. "Thank you Neo, showbiz can be such hard work. Come on let's go broadcast this and move the Grimm."

. . .

Ruby and Jaune shared a glance at the threat that Roman had just made and he smiled softly at her.

"Go and do your stuff hero. I'll be wait at the bar." Ruby nodded and kissed his cheek before vanishing in a trail of rose petals. Jaune smiled before running to the bar and putting on his costume. He rushed towards the town square and stopped as he was about to join Ruby in the fight, but she was doing perfectly fine on her own. There were only Beowolves and Ursas really, not nearly enough to get worked up about.

"Didn't expect Red here, but I think this is even better." Jaune turned and Roman looked at Ruby with a expression of… guilt? "I don't want to do this anymore. I'm tired of hurting people, but I needed the money and the power does feel nice."

"Why don't you just leave? What is keeping you in this insanity?" Roman faced away from him and covered his mouth with his hat.

"They have eyes everywhere, but not ears yet. I can help you stop what is coming, but if I try to leave I'll die. They hang the threat of hurting Neo over my head so I can't fight them… Save her and I'll help you in anyway I can."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't, but I'll give you one thing. The name of the one that will bring death and pain to Vale is Cinder Fall." Roman pulled out the white beating heart and threw it at the Grimm and took his leave. "We aren't so different, but you are still someone better than me. That makes you dangerous to their plan, you have no strings they can hold on you. You are a huntsman without any of the laws that keeps their plan safe, you may be the only one who can stop this. You and that girl." Jaune rushed down and stabbed a Beowolf that was trying to sneak attack Ruby.

"Rosey, what a surprise to see you here. All the other huntsmen seemed to have been outsmarted by Roman, didn't expect you to be the smartest." Ruby sliced a Ursa in two and pulled her scythe back a bit too far and _accidently_ hit Jaune on the head.

"Oops, didn't see the emo standing there. With the brooding I thought you were a Ursa. I should ask you why were you so late, they did call for you by name after all. If you try doing that with ladies you'll never get a date." Jaune slashed over Ruby's head as a baby Nevermore dove at her head, and she ducks and stabs a Major Ursa that swiped at Jaune's back.

"You shouldn't worry about my love life, it's very much alive."

"Maybe in your dreams."

"If I have to see you Rose, it's a nightmare."

"Awe I knew you thought of me." Ruby smiled and used the spear end of her scythe to hook a Beowolf and use it as a shield from the other Grimm. Jaune held his shield towards Ruby and she jumped on it, rocketing off as he threw her and she used her semblance to become a spiral of death for the Grimm. With the Grimm dead, the people around cheered Ruby and Jaune. "Well, I didn't need more fame but I guess this is the price of helping people."

"I needed this." The two's celebration was cut as the Grimm bodies didn't disappear like they were meant to, they were like real bodies. "They aren't vanishing… someone messed with these Grimm." All the bodies suddenly began to move and became a sphere of black and white.

"Oh my Oum, what is that!?" Ruby said as the bodies were send flying and something stood where the sphere once was. The creature was made of limbs of multiple Grimm and each was twisting and jerked violently. Its face was very human-like and had twisted features.

"It's a Twister! We have to kill it fast!" Jaune rushed and cut off one of its hands, but immediately red veins latched onto his face and began to pull him to it. "Ruby!" Said girl rushed in and cut the veins and took off one of its feet.

"Okay so you know what it is right? How do we kill it?"

"What? I never faced one of these before."

"You gave it a name!"

"Yeah, and I gave you one too. Let's try making it stay still by cutting the remaining limbs, but be careful for those vein things." Both fighters went opposite ways and Ruby used her sniper rifle to light it on fire, while Jaune tried to attack its head. The Twister screamed and dodged the sword as it grabbed Jaune in a hug, squeezing him tighter and tighter. "I just fixed these ribs you fuck!" Jaune bit at the Twisters neck and tore a piece off as the thing let go and kicked him away.

Ruby jumped in and caught him, laying him down and used her semblance to cut his remaining arm and leg, before slicing it's head off. She smiled at her work and rushed back to Jaune.

"You okay?" Ruby asked as she helped him up and they jumped to the side, the Twister's body had sprouted more veins and grabbed more of the discarded bodies, ripping out what it needed. Reborn with new limbs it tore out chucks of the land and threw it at them.

"Yeah I'm fine, but this thing is getting worse. We have to stop it…" Jaune examined it at noticed there were more meat in it's chest area. "Ruby, I think the way to kill it is in its chest, I will try to blow it open and you finish it."

"Greeeat." Jaune rolled his eyes and pulled out his revolver, using his dust bullets to freeze its legs in place and blow off its arms and open a hole in it's chest, exposing the fleshly heart beating. Ruby cursed as she used her semblance to rush at the hole and tear through its body, crushing the heart with her body. The Twister finally distingrated and Jaune rushed to Ruby's side. He lifted her and jumped out of sight onto a nearby roof.

"Quite the show you two gave." Jaune and Ruby looked up to see the woman in the black suit standing there.

"You? Why are you here?!" Jaune held his sword out as the woman smirked.

"Don't fret child, I am not here to kill you yet. My master has use for the both of you, but for now I wish to ask you both a question. What makes you two believe you can save this world? What pushes you to hope that you can change destiny's plans?"

Jaune frowned. "I never believed in destiny, this is our tale and we will make it what we want to. I refuse to say by as you bring the end to everything."

Ruby stood and stared into Cinder's eyes. "I won't let the world my mother died for end because of you or whoever. I will be a hero and I will stop you!"

Cinder laughed and turned away from them. "How curious, but in the end you still are nothing and your fighting will end in the destruction of this world and with the death of those you love." She walked away from the two heroes, leaving them in silence.

"Well, at least they know you're one of the good guys now." Ruby said, trying to be optimistic.

"I suppose so. I should be leaving, have a good evening Rose." Jaune smiled as he looked into her eyes and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Wow, just gonna leave a lady hanging huh?" Ruby pouted as Jaune laughed.

"I am a gentleman who would never do something like that, but I don't see a lady." Ruby blinked and lifted her scythe, shooting him in the chest.

"I feel much better now, thanks!" Ruby stood and walked off towards Jaune's bar. The knight cursed and rushed out, barely beating her there and hiding his armor in the men's bathroom. "Jaune! I'm back!"

"One moment!" Jaune came out and smiled as Ruby was eating the sweets from the day before with a glass of milk. "I would normally ask for payment, but after you save the town I think you deserve a reward." Ruby smiled and Jaune turned on the TV, a news report was going on about how the city was saved by the heroics of a huntress and a man going by the Shadow Knight.

"This is going to make his head even bigger." Ruby grumbled and Jaune smiled, making her sweets to take back to Beacon for her team. They spent the next few hours together and Ruby finally received the calls and messages her friends has been sending her as Roman's device shut off. "I best be going, Yang will kill me for going to fight a new kind of Grimm without her. I'll see you soon Jaune and thanks for today it was loads of fun."

"I should thank you, besides I loved spending time with you. We should do it again." Ruby blushed and smiled.

"Sure, I'll need to check my schedule but it would be great." The two shared a hug and Ruby ran off, leaving Jaune to think about Roman, that woman, and this girl named Cinder Fall.

. . .

Ozpin watched the video of Ruby and Jaune fighting the new Grimm and decided that more ways to communicate between Beacon and Vale would be needed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he replayed the same message he had several times already.

" _Ozpin, it has been brought to my attention that Vale is now hosting criminal mob bosses, Grimm traffickers, and Vigilantes. However, the last straw was this new Grimm type. Ozpin, I have been ordered to go to Vale to see the city for myself and I will be bring Winter Schnee with me. We can talk about this more when I arrive."_

"James, why must you make things so difficult? I hope the boy can evade capture or this will be bad." Ozpin picked up his scroll and made a call. "Qrow, I need you to come to Vale. I think Jaune might get into trouble soon."

. . .

"You bastard! You gave me one of the prototypes!" Cinder accused as Arthur Watts scoffed.

"Of course I did girl, what I was supposed to just give away priceless experiments to someone who wanted to test a boy? No, I gave you the prototype and received valuable fighting data on it. I thank you for your unwilling assistance. With this data, I can now better the attack hearts and defense hearts for when they are truly needed."

Cinder glared at the man. "Your all so precious experiments are nothing more than means to an end, do not forget that Arthur. I will be taking several for myself and I want the girl fixed, has Tyrian broken her yet?"

"No, she has a great amount of resistance. It seems she has interest in the silver-eyed girl and the knight. I'm not sure Vale would be the best location to take her, perhaes Hazel-"

"No! I will be the one who takes her. As for what she cares about, both the girl and the knight will soon be nothing but a memory." Watts grabbed Cinder's arm and they glared at each other.

"I refuse to be blamed should you kill either one of them with my creatures. Salem wanted them alive."

"And she will get what she wants. Now, get your dirty hands off me." The two walked opposite ways and Cinder called Emerald. "Get Mercury and keep a close eye on Roman and Neo, something has changed and I don't like it. These children wish to play with fire so it's time they get burned."


	6. Chapter 6

A Bit of Everyone! End of Volume One!

(A/N - Well everyone can see the title and this chapter will show where our heroes and villains are, focusing on each and preparing their stories for volume two which will be much longer. I never realized just how short the first volume was show-wise, so I hope you all have enjoyed it so far and will be there for volume two! I wanted to thank everyone who has helped by their ideas, views, favorites, follows, and reviews. In this story's first week I have made many friends and it's time I give them what they wanted.)

Qrow stumbled as he exited the airship he was on, head held high. He blinked at the difference of lighting and continued to walk heroically to the nearest trash can and began vomiting out his small breakfast. The man had to fly most of the way after hearing that Ironwood was threatening to get Jaune, not to mention that said boy had been seen getting close with his niece.

"I knew teaching that boy my charm and best one-liners would be trouble, but I thought Ruby would be able to see through it! Maybe my first guess was right and that kid really is Taiyang reborn, I don't care if Ozpin says you can't be reborn without being dead! That blonde was Mr. Stealyourgirl personified and his personal motto was, 'any hole is the goal.'" Qrow stumbled around some more and yawned, nearing the Beacon statue and a waiting Ozpin.

"Is this truly the proper time to be drunk Qrow?"

"Oz, I've already told you this before. The proper time _is_ all the time, besides I'm just a bit buzzed. I don't know why you're not drinking since you actually have to hear James go on and on today. Never was there a better excuse to drink. Speaking of excuses to drink, where're my nieces?"

"Asleep, as most people are this early on a Sunday. You didn't have to get here so early, James and Ms. Schnee are getting here this afternoon and we have to make sure that Jaune doesn't engage him in any way."

"What kind of fool would go after a man who wants to hates them?"

"If he's anything like you, then I fear that he is planning to do just that." Ozpin said as he drunk his coffee, waiting as Qrow's drunken mind works through his words.

"Hey! I raised the boy right! I was just drunk most of the time..."

Ozpin 'hmmed' as he took another sip. "Didn't you forget him in the Grimmlands for years?"

"...I remembered him when I sobered up."

"Well, the boy will be expecting you alone. Meanwhile, I have to meet James when he arrives. Try and keep him and yourself out of trouble and out of sight." Qrow rolled his eyes and saluted the man as he sighed and headed back towards Vale. Before leaving, he glanced at Beacon.

"Ruby… Yang… I'm proud you of two and I'll be back."

. . .

 _Twenty-three-year-old Roman Torchwick was running through the lower levels of Haven as the clouds rained down on him. He was holding a gunshot wound to his shoulder and barely dodged another as a bullet passed near his head. His left eye was black and swollen, barely able to open against the rain. He was an innocent man being chased by an assassin- an assassin that believed that he had stolen money from some supremacist group and killed everyone. Roman had just gotten to Haven to start his life over as a huntsman, but the at-the-time academy headmaster had denied him for an accident that was far in his past. He had begged for a chance and even showed off a few of his skills, but he was thrown out and left to rot._

 _Roman didn't have the lien to go try another academy, so until he did he was stuck in Haven. He was soon approached by men and gave him a chance to show what he could do, but it was not his fighting skills that impressed them the most, it was his skilled silver tongue. Roman knew that even when he had nothing left in life, he would have his charm. That charm was all that saved him that day and it was what was killing him now. It had started with just another job, Roman had joined these people because they promised him that no matter the job, it would always be legal. He did still have his dream of being a huntsman after all and he didn't want to endanger that dream any more than he already was._

 _This job was a simple delivery, but when he arrived at where he was meant to meet the receiver he was knocked unconscious. He woke tied in a chair in some kind of run down factory, judging from the aged equipment, but when he struggled a voice spoke from the shadows._

" _Try that again and you lose the hands." Roman stopped and several large men with rags on their heads stepped into the light._

" _Please… I was just a messenger, a delivery boy! All I wanted to do was give you that package! Check it!"_

" _Oh we did, it was a bomb that was one minute from exploding! You were about to kill our leader with your insane suicide attack! Oh, we will get even with your employers; no doubt about that, but you will be the example." Roman begged but it fell on deaf ears as they proceeded to beat him over and over again. It went on for hours until they finally decided that he had had enough but before the boss could pull the trigger and end it, another man rushed into the room and said there was some kind of freaky child killing people outside. The leader took his men, except for one, and left. Roman looked at the last guard they had left him and he closed his eyes, concentrating in his aura._

' _Please… I am going to die if I can't do anything… I need a miracle…' Roman glowed with orange energy as his semblance finally awoke._

" _Hey what are you doing freak?!" The guard shouted as he attempted to hit Roman again, but something hot smacked him away. He looked up and found several fireballs circling Roman, burning away his restraints. "I'm not letting you escape!" The man attacked, but Roman glared at him and punched him in the gut with his fist on fire. The man fell and was knocked out, leaving Roman to fall to his knees and thank the fireballs as they vanished. He checked the man's pockets and stole some lien, before running out and nearly throwing up as bodies, blood, and severed limbs were everywhere. Whatever had done this must have been a real monster. Roman checked all the pockets as he needed money to get out of Haven, but as he checked the last one a voice shouted out._

" _We found the killer! I have him!" Roman was about to deny this but a bullet to the shoulder silenced him quickly. He ran into the alleyways and tried to lose the assassin, but he soon grew too tired and a shot to the leg took him down. "You will pay for what you did." Roman bowed his head as the man made a gurgling noise and his headless body fell to the ground. Roman screamed and fell back, onto a small girl who was crying and covered in blood. The girl was strange as her hair and eyes seemed to be split between wanting to be pink or brown. She reminded Roman of an ice cream flavor he loved when he was little, he remembered it because everyone else hated it. Neapolitan._

" _Are you okay kid?" He knew he should run, with this much blood she was the one who killed all those men. But he found a small part of him, the same part that dreamt of becoming a huntsman, wanting to help this girl. She sniffled and looked at him with big confused eyes before she touched her throat. "You can't talk? Well, I think we should get you out of the rain. Come on, you can come with me okay? I'm Roman." Again, the girl tilted her head. "Do you have a name?" She shook her head. "Okay then, how about Neo?" Roman couldn't help but laugh as a huge smile broke across the little girl's face. "Okay Neo, let's go home."_

Roman opened his eyes and looked at the girl had been taking care of for years now sleeping with a bowl of melted ice cream in front of her. Ever since he met Neo he wanted to protect her, but now he had to put her life in the hands of another. That knight was their best shot at survival, but he wasn't making enough progress fast enough. He needed to help him. His scroll vibrated and he sighed looking at the message from Cinder…

. . .

Ren sat on his bed, quietly tapping keys on his laptop as he was putting in new information on the Shadow Knight. He checked on his best friend and team leader to ensure that both were still sleeping before he continued. It has been a miracle that he has been able to hide his findings as long as he had, but Nora had noticed something was playing on his mind. He had created a blog, named the Spymaster, and decided that he wanted to investigate the knight and figure out their true identity, and he already had a suspect. Jaune, the bartender that appeared around the same time as the knight and had befriended Ruby. When he had met Jaune he didn't come off as a boy who would dress in a knight costume and beat up people, but that wasn't what put him on the suspect list.

"On the night where Pyrrha fought the knight, I was wandering around looking for Nora's favorite headphones. I saw Ruby sneaking around and deduced that she must have been trying to get back Crescent Rose after Ms. Goodwitch took it away from her. Ren was about to turn away, but the sight of the blonde bartender in a onesie was a strange sight. How did he get into Beacon at night? I watched as he and Ruby talked and were able to get their weapons back with a little help from a certain heroic pup, but more importantly was Jaune weapons were a sword and shield that resembled the knight's! They were a different color but a match without a doubt! I was hoping for Ruby to question the weapon, but he quickly ran off and she was dazed by a kiss on the forehead. Not ten minutes later, we find that the knight is fighting Pyrrha." Ren whispered as he typed and recounted the memory.

"I can't post these findings or go to Ozpin with my petty and weak evidence… No, I need something better; something more concrete. I won't turn him in right away anyway, I want to know why he is doing all this. Is there a purpose to this madness? I feel there are more secrets that involve Jaune, the knight, Ruby, and all of us now. I may try speaking with Ruby in private and see if there is any more information I can get her to spill for a few boxes of cookies. It's not my best moment, but it will have to do. I'll keep this updated." - Lie Ren.

. . .

Velvet Scarlatina was sweating as she was using every practice weapon the school had and doing her best to master each, she had grown tired of being picked on for being a Faunus. The last straw was when the cute boy in the onesie had to save her, she couldn't just keep counting on others to save the day. She was a huntress! Coco, Fox, and Yatsuhashi have stuck by her side through thick and thin and accepted who she was. They never doubted her or counted her as any less of the team, in fact, they went out of their way to give her the room to show what she can really do. She had let people bully her all her life, but she had never tried to hide her bunny ears as they are part of who she is and she would be proud of them! She'll prove that she is worthy of her friends and the show the strength they see when they see her.

Coco was standing in the shadows nearby and stared fondly at her best friend. She had gone far from the little bunny that she had met at orientation, she has slowly grown into a strong woman. Coco knew that she could have stopped those bullies any time she wanted. Oh, how she wanted to string them up by their ears, but that wouldn't be what Velvet would want. The bunny was one of the strongest fighters in the entire school, but that was under all the heart that made her special and care for those that hate her.

"Go get em, Bun-Bun. I'll be there whenever you need me. I heard about this new place downtown, a milk bar we can check out later."

. . .

"Sir, if I may, why did you wish to come to Vale so early? With the tournament coming to Beacon I suspect that we would be coming sooner or later." Winter Schnee questioned as she sat next to General James Ironwood.

"Simple, I wish to see this knight for myself. A vigilante is a remarkable sight as they are normal people who wish to make a difference without the proper training or knowledge to do so. However, this one is different and I find him to be a good specimen for the next evolution of the robotic huntsmen. The White Knights can be built with speed and power surpassing the model DNA." Ironwood said as he pointed at a small screen that showed the Shadow Knight fighting with Ruby. "All we have to do is get a bit of his DNA."

"How are you so sure that he will show up sir?"

Ironwood allowed himself a small proud smirk. "Because it's what I would do."

. . .

Jaune was sleeping in the old clock tower when loud banging woke him and a hang lifted him up the moment the door opened.

"Jaune, you blonde bastard! What was the one thing I told you before we separated?" Qrow was looking insanely smashed and nearly fell taking Jaune with him.

"Qrow!? Chill man chill! You told me bros before hoes!"

"Not that you idiot! I said don't mess with my nieces!"

"I haven't been messing with them! I have been trying to protect them! I spend a day with Ruby for fun and even fought both as the knight, but I never messed with them the way you're thinking! You trust me don't you?" Qrow stared at Jaune for a long time before he put him down and sighed, sliding down the wall till he was sitting.

"I'm sorry kid, but those kids are all I have left. They are the last thing I have of better times…" Qrow allowed himself a humorless laugh as he went on. "All I ever wanted was to have a pair of my own." Jaune slid down next to his friend, mentor, and father figure.

"Why don't you? With your looks, I have to say there is a desperate woman out there somewhere." Jaune joked and Qrow cracked a smile. "Are you afraid of losing them?"

"Of course I am, everyone near me gets in danger and I'm always too late to save them… I couldn't do that to a child of mine. If I'm being honest, I'm sorry for you too. You spent so much time with me growing up that I think I cursed ya."

"That is the real reason you never unlocked my aura, isn't it? You told me there were three reasons you never did it. First was that to touch the heart and face was a bit too gay. The second was you said that you were too drunk to either remember the chant or say it right. The third was that you wanted me to learn to fight without something like aura." Jaune said as Qrow nodded at each point. "Those were never the real reasons were they? I was thinking because waking someone's aura bounds you to that person and you didn't want me to get hurt." Qrow sighed and finished his flask.

"The other reasons weren't wrong but yeah, I didn't want you hurt… I hate to say it, but I had gotten close to you over those years." Jaune smiled and nodded thinking back to the lectures, the beatings (I mean spars), and the lessons that Qrow hoped would be enough for him to grow strong.

"Your family misses you a lot Qrow… I see it in her eyes. She looks just like her mother." Qrow raised an eyebrow at him and Jaune pointed to one of Qrow's jacket pockets. "Once, you had gotten drunk and passed out with your hand in your pocket and when I tried to free it you were holding onto a photo. It was of you, a woman with long black hair, a blonde man that could have posed as my dad, and a short woman in white. A single silver eye was all I could make out."

Qrow gave a small small as he pulled out the photo. "Summer Rose… She was amazing, just like Ruby. She believed that the smallest hope could ignite, change, and save the world; and she was that hope to so many." Jaune put a hand on his mentor's shoulder. Qrow shrugged it off muttering "Don't touch me, Mini-Tai," under his breath. "We have a new one."

"But you didn't want that for her did you?" Jaune asked.

"Ruby… I could never put something like that on her shoulders. I wanted you to be that hope, I had hoped that destiny would take you instead of her." Jaune stared as he thought over this revelation. Qrow looked angry with himself for raising a broken boy on false promises and just to save something he knew. "Everywhere I turn I somehow always manage to hurt someone. I can't go back and change things, how I would give up everything for a chance to make this all right. I drink and run from all my problems… I can't keep doing this. Everyone I love is safest when I stay away… I won't be there at Ruby's or Yang's wedding… the birth of their kids… because I'm scared!" Qrow shouted and felt Jaune wrap his arms around his stomach and hug him tightly.

"You're wrong… so you're bad luck? So what!? Would Summer blame you for anything? Does Ruby or Yang?! You're broken and drinking to death isn't how you get better… I know Ruby and Yang would be destroyed if anything happened to you. I would be too… dad…" With that one word, Qrow allowed the years of loneliness and self-isolation to fade away and he hugged Jaune back, tears cascading down his cheeks. True, it may have been the liquor in his system, but he didn't care because for the first time in years, he had a glimpse of what he could have had.

Jaune allowed himself to enjoy the embrace, it reminded him of the times he was with his father, but all too soon his crime computer turned on. Jaune's smile faded as he released Qrow from the embrace, only to find the man had fallen asleep. Resisting the urge to grab a permanent marker and exact a small amount of revenge, he left the man to go to the computer.

When he reached the console, he expected to hear the voice of O, but there wasn't the familiar voice of the mysterious man like usual. Instead, it was a live camera feed and seemed to show Roman and Neo knocking out some Atlas guardsmen and White Fang members taking their place. Jaune was putting on his armor and watching the feed as the two fake guards had taken control of some Atlas military prototype paladins. Roman moved the camera to show that the Paladins were joining a security patrol that seemed to be defending three important people, a man with a coffee mug and grey hair, a woman he recognized as Winter Schnee, and a man that seemed to be a general of some sort.

"Thanks Roman, I'll make sure those people stay alive." Jaune looked at his mentor and whispered he was sorry for leaving him before he jumped out his window and headed for the station…

. . .

"Ruby, do we really have to go this early? I know you want to see your boyfriend, but I'm sure even he sleeps!" Yang yawned and complained as she and Ruby were heading down to Vale. Blake and Weiss refused to wake up so early just so Ruby could see a boy, but Yang wasn't going to just let her sister leave by herself again.

"H-he's not my boyfriend Yang! Plus, I didn't ask for you to come with me." Ruby pouted as they boarded the airship down to Vale.

"Yeah and look what happened yesterday! You were on your first date, had to fight a new Grimm type, and you even saw the dark knight again!"

"Shadow Knight, Yang. And it wasn't a date! Jaune and I just went out as friends!" Yang teased her blushing sister for more details as they went into the city, but the bar seemed to be closed. "Maybe he's sick at his house? We can go check there."

"You know where he lives? Hooow?" Yang said with a smirk and Ruby was about to start banging her head on the brick wall, but the sounds of gunfire drew them away. They arrived as Ozpin had his cane in a defensive stance and blocked missiles from hitting him along with two others. "Headmaster! What is happening?! How can we help?"

The grey haired headmaster spared a glance at the two siblings before spinning his cane to deflect some debris headed their way. "Ms. Xiao Long? Ms. Rose? Go help the knight! It seems we have fallen into a trap…"

. . .

Jaune jumped down in the middle of the street as his targets and those that they were meant to be protecting arrived. Immediately he drew all their attention, but before the paladins could attack, the general ordered them to stand down.

"Thank you sir, but I'm afraid that those paladins won't work for you anymore. The people operating them from the inside are White Fang that I'm sure are trying to kill all of you!" The three all turned to the paladins as they took aim at them, but Jaune jumped and blocked the resulting gunfire with his shield. "I would kindly ask for the permission to turn them into scrap metal." Jaune didn't wait for an answer and smirked, slashing at one, but his sword bounced off and it kicked him several feet away. "Ow."

Winter looked prepared to fight but Ironwood smiled and shook his head. "I wish to see just what the boy can do when faced with something made from Atlas."

"But sir, the people around here are in danger!"

"Ozpin wouldn't allow anyone to die on his watch, would you?" Ozpin gave a light glare at Ironwood, but couldn't deny the fact. Jaune rushed past them and was forced to slide under a car that was thrown at him, but he pulled out his revolver and fired multiple shots at the frame. The shots pushed the machine back but otherwise did no damage. One grabbed Jaune and tried to squeeze him, but he used his swords to pry its fingers and used the paladin as a shield from the other trying to shoot him.

The bullets provided a distraction for Jaune to empty the rest of his dust bullets into the less armored arm socket of the giant machine, but it withstood the attack. Jaune ran to the machine's hand and took back his blade, slicing the ice and taking down the machine's arm. He was happy with himself until he looked up and both paladins were aiming their missile launchers at him.

"Ah jeez. Hey look, can't we talk about this?" Jaune's answer was several missiles to the shield, but they blasted him away and smashed him through several brick walls. Jaune cursed as blood ran down his face and he shook the dizziness from his head. He tried to stand but there was suddenly someone holding a hand out towards him.

"Come on emo boy! This isn't the time for a nap!" Jaune looked at Yang Xiao Long and smirked as he took her hand and they ran outside. Ruby was doing her best to hold them off, but even with her speed, they were too hard for her scythe to damage. "Their armor is too hard to puncture." Yang was right, but there were certain points that if they were attacked repeatedly they wouldn't last long.

"Yang, you're the heavy hitter here, so can you sneak behind them as Ruby and I distract them?" Yang nodded and blasted towards a nearby building, while Jaune blocked a barrage of gunfire that was heading towards Ruby. "What's up Rosey? Having a good day so far?"

Ruby rolled her eyes and smiled. "Nope, any day I have to see you is torture. I supposed that I had to guess that you would be involved in causing trouble somehow."

Jaune faked a hurt expression that Ruby couldn't properly see due to the mask. "Well, Ms. Rose, I'll have you know that you have failed this friendship. I was taking a morning stroll, when out of nowhere I heard all sorts of ruckus." Jaune was forced to stop his spiel as he picked Ruby in a fireman carry and jumped to the side as a stray telephone pole hit where they were just standing. He sat her down and unsheathed his sword.

"Where was I- oh yeah, and the next thing you know, I came to stop blatant murder. But if I'm honest, challenging the giant machines of death in the middle of the street wasn't the best plan to go with."

"Noo, really?" The sarcasm oozed from those words and both looked up as Yang jumped off the building she was on and started to shoot into the head of the paladin she landed on. "YANG! Look out!" Ruby shouted as the paladin ripped a car in half and used it to punch Yang off it and into the ground. Ruby and Jaune tried to help, but they were stopped by the other one. It attempted to punch them but they dodged and a barrage of bullets shot into the machine, pushing it back and smashing it into a building.

Coco Adel smirked and lowered her shades as she blew the smoke off her giant Gatling gun. "Bun-Bun, I think Yang could use your help." Velvet's camera changed into Ruby's scythe and she dropped from a nearby building, slicing off the arm of the paladin on Yang. She backflipped off as an inferno threw off the paladin and Yang came out of her hole with red eyes. She rocketed off and landed devastating punch after punch on the offending paladin, taking out both its legs and punching straight through the hull. She grabbed the pilot and tore him out of the paladin.

"Not the face please!" The member shouted and Yang smirked.

"As you wish." She threw him up and uppercutted his crotch. She fixed her hair as the second paladin rammed into her, but was knocked back as Velvet sliced off one of its legs with a blade that looked like Jaune's.

"Not bad Bun-Bun!" Coco shouted and unloaded another enormous clip into the machine, blowing off it's last remaining arms. Yang shouted in rage and punched off its last leg. The pilot cursed and decided to take all the brats with him as he aimed at the ground and prepared to shoot all his missiles at once.

"Ruby! It's time for the Red Knight!" Jaune shouted and Ruby stared confused at him.

"Red Knight? Is that something I should know?" Jaune rolled his eyes and quickly explained to her what they needed to do. "Ohh, why did you make such a dumb name before?"

"Just shut up and do it." Ruby glared and shook her head. Jaune face-palmed. He was surprised that the paladin hadn't begun its attack yet. "Please." Ruby saluted and rushed away, aiming her shot and running as fast as her semblance could take her. She grabbed Jaune and they spun, becoming a spiral of red and black with a pointed edge, easily shredding right through the paladin. The machine shattered and the pilot shook his head as he found all the weapons aiming at him.

Ozpin, General Ironwood, and Winter arrested the White Fang members, but Winter also aimed her weapon at Jaune.

"You too Knight, you are still a criminal."

"You can't be serious! I just came to help you!" Jaune shouted as he took a step towards the woman. She didn't move and prepared to shoot him with a dust bullet, but Ruby moved her scythe between them.

"He's right! He was helping everyone today, you can't just take him!"

"Ms. Rose, I don't think you quite understand the impacts vigilante justice could have on Vale and all of Remnant. Best to stop it now while it still only refers to this fool." No one moved or backed down until Ironwood told her to stand down. The citizens were all watching and seemed to support the knight.

"I believe that the job of a huntsman and of a soldier is to do what is for the greater good. James, the greater good demand the release of the Shadow Knight." Ozpin said with a small smile as Winter and Ironwood made their leave.

"Ms. Rose, I must warn you that this small victory will come at a great price. With this level of civil unrest, I'm afraid that I will be given the power to chase the knight again. If you or any of your allies are seen helping the knight, I will be forced to take you in. Any ally." The last part was directed at Ozpin as he calmly sipped his coffee.

Ruby sighed and was hugged by Yang as she went on about how they have to tell Weiss and Blake what they missed. Coco congratulated Velvet and dragged her to the press, going on about how they were all instrumental in the defeat of the paladins. Jaune smiled behind his mask and faced Ozpin.

"No need to thank me boy, though I fear your actions here will have an effect you never foresaw. I wish you the best of luck and should you ever find yourself at Beacon again, I do wish you'd call first." Jaune nodded and quickly made his leave, but Ruby stopped him.

"Wait! There is something I think you should see. Come to the top of this bar at eleven." She whispered and smiled, before running off to join her friends.

. . .

Jaune sat on top of his bar as he waited for Ruby, Qrow had left to talk with someone and said that he was proud of who Jaune had become. The boy knew that after his stunt today, things would be changing, but he didn't realize how much until he felt a familiar gust of wind. Behind him were four girls all dressed in various kinds of costumes. His eyes widened as he choked on his own spit.

"W-what the hell is this?" Jaune questioned as the one dressed in red and black stepped forward.

"We are the new heroes that will defend Vale! I am the Scarlet Wrath! These are my teammates, The Ice Queen, The Dark Shade, and The Golden Fist." Jaune nearly laughed at the names but decided that being a hypocrite wasn't the best way to keep standing.

"Okay, what are you doing here?" The one named Scarlet Wrath pouted and crossed her arms. "I said that we wanted to help Vale."

Jaune gave a small laugh as he eyed their costumes. "That's kind of my job."

Scarlet Wrath's visible portion of her eyes seemingly twitched as she pointed a finger at Jaune. "Are you saying that it's a gender exclusive job? Because I think it's unfair that all the superheroes are boys."

Jaune deadpanned. "All the superheroes- I am the only superhero!"

"Exactly, all boys."

Jaune rubbed his face and sighed. He wove his hand around in a dismissive manner. "Whatever. Do as you wish." He turned and was about to leave when when Scarlet Wrath called out to him.

"You forgot to show us your face."

Jaune blinked and cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me?"

"Rule number thirty-four states that heroes shouldn't hide their identities from each other."

"Where is this rule book?" The costumed girl proceeded to pull out a notebook where she and her team had written their own set of hero rules. Jaune's eye twitched. "You can't seriously expect me to follow these! Besides, I think the secret identity is secret for a reason."

Scarlet Wrath pouted. "Fine, I won't tell you mine then." Jaune chuckled as he approached her. She was dressed in a darker version of her clothes, but the skirt was less flashy, a mask covered her eyes and top half of her face, and the chest had armor with the Rose insignia.

"You are Ruby Rose, age fifteen, attends Beacon Academy, team leader of RWBY, uses a self made sniper-scythe she made at Signal Academy called Crescent Rose, and has black beowolf underwear." Jaune said the last part as he flipped the back of her skirt. He ignored her blush and attempts to stab him as he went to Weiss, who held out her blade at him.

"Try it and tonight is your last night on the job." Jaune rolled his eyes and examined her outfit. She was wearing a completely different one than usual and it looked to have been made from snowflakes. The chest had a large crystal and the whole thing was white and blue, but the masks were the same as Ruby's and all her partners.

"You are Weiss Schnee, age seventeen, partner to Ruby, uses Myrtenaster, and is heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Jaune stopped before Blake and smiled behind his mask. She was dressed in a ninja outfit, but it was made of a black leather. "You are a unique one, Blake Belladonna. I could only find your age and weapon name. Seventeen and Gambol Shroud, I suppose you won't tell me more." Blake didn't speak and he shrugged as he went to Yang, who proceeded to punch him in the stomach.

"That was for my sis." Jaune coughed and struggled to his feet. The brawler had a yellow jacket, black armor underneath, her hair in a ponytail, short black shorts with yellow leggings.

"You are Yang Xiao Long, sister to Ruby, age seventeen, uses gauntlets Ember Celica." Jaune sighed as he took a step back. "Okay, if you truly want to be heroes like this then you must be able to hide your identities better. Your weapons will be the biggest hint as to who you are considering you are one of the most popular teams at Beacon. I want you to create new weapons for your new personas. Anything that isn't what you have now." They all nodded and he gave them all missions and areas to investigate, but Ruby remained.

"Thank you, I know that partners weren't something you would take to kindly."

"No, but I feel that this is a blessing in disguise. There are forces at work here, but I can't stop them alone. It's good to know there is someone like Ruby Rose has my back."

"Scarlet Wrath." She corrected and ran off, leaving Jaune to smile and relax a bit.

. . .

Ironwood and Winter sat in silence, but she couldn't hold it back anymore. "Sir, why didn't we arrest the boy?"

"Ozpin was right and should we had arrested him, it is likely a riot could have begun. Don't worry Winter, we have what we came for." Ironwood smirked and held up a vial with a red liquid inside. "It's time to begin Project White Knight. It also seems as though the people of Vale need proof of the danger of vigilantes." Ironwood made and call and watched as a picture appeared on his scroll. "I have her first job now, send her to Vale on the first flight. I need her to find me a knight."

"May I ask who this mysterious person is?" Winter questioned.

"Her name is Penny Polendina."

. . .

Cinder looked over Vale and cursed the incompetence of the White Fang, they had had General Ironwood, Ozpin, and Winter Schnee but they were beaten by children and the knight. Whatever her master could want with him no longer mattered, she wanted the knight dead. She wasn't the only one either.

"I spoke with the other members and decided that this knight will be a primary target. I want his head." Adam Taurus stood in his mask and looked at Cinder.

"Of course, and have it you shall...

. . .

Far from Vale, the tortured child watched the news and smiled as she saw the Shadow Knight and Ruby standing next to each other. For a moment, the girl's hair becomes blonde with red tips before changing back to normal black. Then her eyes change, one a deep sapphire and the other a beautiful silver.

. . .

In a club in Vale, two twin sisters are sitting and smiling as they watch the news. "Hey Junior! We may have found something interesting we could use." Junior Xiong walked over and raised an eyebrow at the footage.

"You want to try using the knight? That man could be worse than Adam for all we know."

"Maybe, but we have a wonderful idea. However, we will need an old friend to deliver our message." The two sisters smirk and laugh as they point at the screen, pointing at Yang Xiao Long.

. . .

Ozpin stared at his scroll as Qrow's message flashed repeatedly. _The Queen has Pawns…_

(A/N - Afterword - Well there was my retelling of the first volume! I hope everyone has enjoyed and I may take a short week off to focus on school. I truly thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for giving your precious time to this story and I hope you will be there for volume two!)


	7. Chapter 7

New Foes Rise! Choices Are Made!

(A/N - Hiya peoples! I hope everyone is doing well and I would like to welcome you to the second volume of _A Different Kind of Hero_ and this one is where a lot more will happen. New Grimm types and new villains will face off against RWBY, Jaune, and PNR. This part will take more chapters than volume one did and I hope you all will enjoy. I was thinking that I would start the next chapters by answering questions in the reviews, even though I answer them privately anyway, it could just clear up things. I hope you all review and give me tips on how to improve my writing, now it's time for me to shut up and on with the show!)

Jaune allowed himself a small smile as he looked over Vale and felt that everything was at peace. Since Ruby and her team became heroes and joined Jaune, the city's criminals seemed to have taken the hint that crime wouldn't be allowed. The White Fang haven't given up, but have taken to doing their big operations during the day when the knight and his freaks weren't around. Roman has been doing his best to get Neo to Jaune, but Cinder Fall has stood in his way and she had her two lackeys always watching him.

"Do you have to try to look weird or does it come naturally?" Jaune rolled his eyes playfully and turned to the girl in the red cape.

"Red Wrath, this pose makes me look like a damn badass and you know it. If you're jealous I can teach you how to do it, but it would probably only make the villains laugh." Ruby pouted and pushed him, making him nearly fall off the building.

"You're lucky that I don't call Ironwood on you and take that reward, do you know how many cookies I could buy?" Jaune shivered at just how Ironwood reacted when he found out that there were five vigilantes in Vale now. He began to offer an enormous reward for his capture or the capture of any of Team RWBY, but he had to admit that the girls were able to think of some clever ways to hide their nightly activities. From using different weapons, keeping a schedule so there is always one or two of them to cover for the others, to all of them actually joining the Justice Defense Force.

"So how is the JDF doing?" Ruby rolled her eyes and rubbed her head. The JDF was made by Ironwood for huntsmen that would fight vigilantism and was led by its first member, Pyrrha Nikos. The JDF has made their jobs a lot more difficult and have a Cerberus thing going on as Pyrrha leads the group she has her two friends in charge of separate parts. Nora Valkyrie is the powerhouse of the group and has nearly broken his legs in the few times they have fought, but her boyfriend was the one that scared Jaune the most. Lie Ren was not the strongest of the three, but he was the smartest and Jaune had an idea that he suspected his real identity. Ren was also the one that brought up the idea that the JDF uses Jaune's bar as their main hangout and, of course, Ruby was totally in for the idea. Jaune was caught in a corner because if he was didn't allow them to stay that would catch the attention of everyone else.

"They are in a rough patch thanks to you. I think Pyrrha is losing her mind trying to find out who you really are, gotta say that I been trying to lower the list also."

"Why does it matter who I am under the mask? All that matters is who I am right now and what we are fighting for."

"What are we fighting for? We have been at this for a month and we haven't gotten any closer to finding the White Fang or what they are planning. With the Vytal Festival coming we may not be able to come out as often and I heard that Ironwood himself will be in town to show off new tech."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "I swear that man will make himself a robot wife someday with how fast he pumps out tech. Knowing him, this new tech could be trouble for us."

Ruby put her hand on his shoulder. "You have us so don't worry about Ironwood or the JDF, but we still have to find your _friends_."

"Ruby, I know how you feel about Torchwick but he isn't the villain here and is just being used. We have to help him and Neo, besides that gives us more allies to fight the real bad guys." Ruby nodded and the two felt buzzing on their belts. The night that Team RWBY joined him as heroes, O had found out and gave him a lecture about trust and how because of this everything will change. After Jaune nearly fell asleep mid-lecture, he gave Jaune earpieces to communicate with the rest of his team if he or any of them were in danger. "Goldilocks is something wrong?"

"It's Golden Fists and I'm not really sure, but I think you have to see this. I'm at Junior's club and bring Red just in case." The two heroes shared a look and rushed to the infamous nightclub. Ruby heard how Yang had destroyed this place on her first night in Vale so she didn't see why Yang would need them, but Jaune had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what they were going to see.

"I don't like this, it screams trap." Yang and Ruby stared at the knight with shocked faces as he looked at a giant neon sign on Junior's that read, " _Shadow Knight and his freaks welcomed! Free drinks and information will be given!"_

"Wow emo knight, what gave you the idea? The giant sign or the fact that Junior never gives out free drinks?" Yang said rolling her eyes.

"Should we go in?" Ruby asked a bit hopeful as Yang had never let her into a bar.

"Well, I don't really see any way these people could beat us and I could use a drink so why not?" He looked at Ruby's confused expression and Yang's glaring red eyes. "I meant that this is for the information and stopping any evil ideas that they could have hatched up." They all enter the club and are met at the door by everyone pulling a gun out on them. "Uhh, I read your sign."

"Put the guns down idiots! Don't you see that our guests of honor have arrived." Two twins stepped out of the shadows and smiled at the three heroes. One was dressed in red and the other in white. "You're not exactly what we imagined but I think you could still give us some fun." The twins walked up to Jaune and put their hands on his chest plate, but suddenly back away in fear. Jaune glanced back and Ruby was standing with an innocent smile, but her scythe blade was curved around Jaune.

"Melanie! Miltia! Let the heroes breathe a bit before putting on the charm." A man with red shades came out and extended a hand to Jaune. "I'm Junior. I'm a huge fan of how you and your uhh team dress up and beat up people in the night." Jaune was about to answer but was interrupted by a new speaker.

"We are not part of any team of his, we work separately." Jaune sighed as the Ice Queen and Dark Shade entered the club. Weiss was okay with becoming heroes of the night (as long as everyone kept up their grades) but she hated the knight and refused to be associated with him. "Who would follow that clown anyway?"

Jaune sighed and facepalmed, ignoring her, he continued. "Why did you call us all here? I know about you and your status in the criminal underground. I would suspect that you know what we are looking for."

Junior smirked and nodded. "Everyone knows that you and yours are looking for Roman Torchwick, his little henchgirl, and the White Fang. You can search all you want, but you won't find them in this city as long as they control the underground."

Ruby walked up beside Jaune. "We have beaten the White Fang out of several places already."

"Every place that they are knocked out of there are dozens more they can hide in, besides, if you really want to hurt them and their leader you hurt their wallet. They control this entire town and make all the money off it."

Jaune thought of the man's words and realized what he wanted. "You want us to save you from the White Fang… give you protection like some sort of mob boss."

"Think about it like this, if you can save my bar from the White Fang then we give you a percent of funding, you get a safe place where you can hide from the police and their puppets, you hurt the White Fang, you get to control the very criminals you beat up, and if we continue to take more and more of the city then there are fewer places that they can hide. You might even save lives before they are even in danger."

"I need a moment to speak with my associates." Junior nodded and left the group so they could talk privately. Jaune and the others went into a room where Weiss went off immediately.

"We can't work with criminals! This goes against the very reason we are here!" Ruby nodded, but Blake and Yang looked to be thinking. "Y-you two can't be honestly considering this insanity."

Blake sighed deeply and held her head. "I lived that life and what Junior said was right if the White Fang doesn't have money or places to hide they will fight or get sloppy. It might even bring the leader here…" Blake shivered and looked away from her friends.

"We are stuck and he knows it, this could give us the edge and we could even save the city without any more fighting. Sometimes we have to make the heavy decisions," Yang said before she turned to Ruby. "Especially if the ones we love are at stake."

Ruby looked at her sister, still not believing in the reasoning. "We could still do this alone, we can stop the crime."

Weiss lowered her mask and rubbed her eyes. "No, we can't Ruby… I above everyone should know that crime can't ever be stopped, but it can be controlled." She slipped on her mask and stared at Jaune's red eyes. "Are you willing to become a criminal?"

Jaune punched the ground. "There will be no going back… once we make this decision I will be seen as a mob boss that must be stopped. The huntsmen and huntresses will be ordered to capture or kill me and I can't blame them. This choice will split the city and could cause a gang war, but it's our only chance. We're backed into a corner."

Ruby walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, we're with you and we won't give up until the end. I may not like the idea, hell I can see that none of us do, but this choice isn't about us. It's about the people we protect." Jaune stared at the girl and smiled touching her hand, it was small and warm but strong. He wouldn't let her down.

"And we must be ready to give them everything." Jaune said as he stood and walked out to Junior, who had Melanie and Militia at his side.

"I guess you've all come to an agreement?"

"We agree to protect you and expanding our hold on Vale, but there will be changes with me in charge. First, there will be no plans to harm any student from the academy and if someone does hurt one then they will be dealt with by me. Second, the people of Vale are to be protected from the White Fang under any circumstance. We don't want to give the police any more reasons to chase us. Third, all information or plans regarding the White Fang pass through me or one of my friends here." Junior agreed to the terms and held out a hand. Jaune looked at it and back at Ruby. "I can't make the decision for the ladies, I am not their leader, but she is. I agree to the terms."

Ruby stepped forward and, after one last glance at her team, both shook Junior's hand. Just as they let go, the entrance exploded and the White Fang stood at the hole with two Paladins. Jaune and Ruby turned and glared at Junior, who just laughed and rubbed his head.

"I may have guessed your choice and declared it to the White Fang." Junior laughed as he ordered Miltia and Melanie to help the heroes fight off the White Fang. "Try not to get the blood on my new floor please and thank you."

Jaune shook his head and ordered Weiss, Miltia, and Melanie to beat the normal members who started shooting and told Blake and Yang to take one Paladin. He turned to Ruby and both shared a smirk as they rushed to the second one. Ruby pulled out her new weapon, Fresta Rosa a whip that had thorns and resembled a rose vine, and wrapped it around one of the paladin's arms. Jaune dived under the other arm and stabbed into the machine's back, climbing it. The Paladin began to slam itself into the walls, pulling Ruby and knocking Jaune away. Ruby touched the hilt of her whip, that took on the look of a rose, and it changed to a light blue color. The whip filled with dust and froze solid the Paladin's arm.

"Shadow! Now!" Jaune looked around and saw his sword was still impaled inside the machine. He swore and pulled out his shield, aiming and throwing it at the ice. It stabbed into the ice but didn't break it until Jaune pulled out his revolver and shot the shield, propelling it through the arm. Jaune was about to cheer when the paladin's second arm punched him through a pillar. Jaune shook his head to clear it and stood just as Yang flew into him.

"Hey, what are you doing laying down Emo Knight? We have a club to save!" Yang slammed her fist into her other hand, showing off her new gauntlets. They were yellow and black metal gloves that could fill the knuckles with dust, but they had a special secondary weapon. Blake had infused her new weapons, which were claws that could scar even the paladins, into her suit and cut the cockpit before jumping away.

"Now Golden Fist! Finish it!"

"Thanks, Shady! Go Grapple Knuckle!" Jaune facepalmed at the idiotic name but it rang true as an arrow was sent flying right through the paladin and it pulled Yang to it. With a shout and smile, Yang punched right through the cockpit and knocking out the pilot. "Score one for our team!"

"The weapon was meant to be a sister weapon to Ruby's! It's called Artel Distea, not Grapple Knuckle! Show off." Jaune grumbled as he dodged a rain of bullets and ran back to Ruby, who had picked up his shield and holding back the one-armed paladin. He saw his sword still in it's back and nodded. "Red! Beat on the nail!" She looked confused for a moment before it clicked and she nodded, throwing his shield at him and he caught it out of the sky to start blocking attack after attack. Ruby used her semblance to get behind the machine and wrapped her whip around the hilt of Jaune's blade. She touched her rose hilt again and it turned yellow as electricity used the sword to shock the entire machine and it shut down. Jaune took his blade back and fist bumped Ruby, but it seemed as though they were the last ones to have still been fighting. Weiss was actually talking to the twins about fashion while Blake was drinking a glass of milk and Yang was arm wrestling some thug.

"Must you two be so slow?" Weiss asked, shaking her head at the Rose and Knight.

Ruby pouted and was about to argue but Jaune smiled behind his mask and took a thinking pose. "Oh Ice Queen, I had a question I been meaning to ask you. Do you ever plan to take it from behind?"

Weiss was shocked for a moment, the question caught the attention of all her teammates, and looked ready to punch the knight. "What kind of damn question is that?!"

"I only ask because I think the stick up your ass will get in the way." Yang and Blake had to hold back the heiress as she tried to kill him. He and Ruby tied up the White Fang members and Junior took the broken paladins saying that he'll keep them safe, but Jaune took one member and threw him out of the club. "Go to your bosses and tell them that this will be my town and the White Fang will no longer be allowed." The man nodded and scampered off. Jaune stretched and sighed deeply, hoping that he wasn't making the wrong choice.

"I know you're afraid, but we can't fear the future when you have so much to worry about now." Ruby said coming out and smiling at him.

"In the morning the other schools will get to Vale and I'll have a bunch of new faces to deal with. You and your team will need your rest for the coming days so don't come tomorrow."

Ruby knew that he was right and punched his arm playfully. "Ugh, you sound like my dad but less old."

. . .

Far from Vale, in a small cottage in the woods of Patch, Taiyang Xiao Long held his heart in a dramatic fashion as he crumpled to his knees.

"F-father senses… telling me that one of my girls… called me old… I'll show them!" Tai got off the ground and opened his closet, pulling out a skateboard and hat and headed off towards Vale.

. . .

Ruby shivered as her and her team was sneaking back into their dorm. "Yang, did you feel that?"

"Yeah… felt like dad did something we'll regret… I bet it's fine."

"Yeah, you're right."

. . .

Jaune took his armor off and decided that he needed to get some sleep, but his mind was stuck on his choice and all the risks that came with it. He felt like he was forgetting something and looked at his calendar, freezing when he saw tomorrow's date.

"I see… it's already that day again…"

. . .

Adam banished the White Fang member and rubbed his face angrily. Roman, Neo, and Cinder watched with interest at the newest development. Roman never believed that the Knight would go this far and he had spent enough time around Taurus to know that the man wouldn't let this go.

"I want the knight and his freaks brought to me and every business that had rejected our offer is to be destroyed or _persuaded._ Roman, you get Cinder's job done as fast as you can while I deal with our new friends."

"You two do as you please, I will be infiltrating Beacon tomorrow with my apprentices and I would like to ask for Neo's assistance in my mission." Cinder said with a cruel smile. Roman gritted his teeth and wanted to shout no, but this was a test and he knew he couldn't afford to fail. He nodded and Neo changed form to more match a school girl. "Good girl."

. . .

Mister ( _ahem Doctor)_ Arthur Watts smirked as he looked at the data he had of the Shadow Knight and pulled out a bell.

"I believe that it's time I gave the boy another test, let's see how good he truly is."


	8. Chapter 8

A Broken Boy! I Am Me!

(A/N - Hiya peoples! I'm so sorry about the lack of chapters for my stories as I am so busy with school. Midterms are coming fast and I have had to study. Anyway, I hope you'll put up with me and I hope you enjoy this. A small warning, there is talk of cutting and suicide in this so please know that I will give this topic justice as best I can. Well, on with the show!)

Qrow Branwen sat in a lonely bar and drank his favorite whiskey as he pulled out his scroll and tiredly rubbed his face. A picture of a dead girl was on it and he sent to Ozpin with a message attached. _We were too late. I know the blade that killed her and we know who has the maiden powers but if she does then we could be in trouble._

"Poor kid, she didn't ask for this. None of them did. Raven, why did you do this and how did you find her? You know that this power will only hurt you and _she_ will target you now." Qrow sighed and noticed the date. "Oh shit." He went to his contact list and hesitated for a moment as his finger lingered over Jaune's name. Instead, he swiped down to Ruby's name…

. . .

"Weiss, this is so boring!" Ruby complained as her and her team were sitting at the docks of Vale with binoculars. Weiss sighed deeply and weakly glared at her partner.

"We have been spending too much time with that knight and not enough time training for the Vytal Festival! I don't want to tell my family that I lost because I was ill-informed about my competition."

"Come on Weiss-cream, we're the baddest team at Beacon! Who could beat us?" Yang said as she flexed a bit.

"Don't count us out." Ren said as he, Nora, and Pyrrha walked up to the group. "We haven't been slacking off either so be ready to give us a fight."

Nora and Yang shared a competitive stare while Pyrrha and Weiss smiled to each other and Ren and Blake nodded. Ruby knew that team PRN were skilled and, along with CRDL and CFVY, victory wouldn't be easy. She also had to focus on what Shadow said about whatever evil plan is happening will happen during the festival.

"Pyrrha, what are you three doing here at the docks? Are you here to spy on the competition too?" Ruby asked.

Pyrrha shook her head. "We here to meet up with General Ironwood as he wanted us to show some special new students around."

Weiss's eye narrowed. "What makes them so special?" A shout stopped Pyrrha as she was about to answer and blonde faunus boy with killer abs jumped over the two teams. He winked at Blake before running off and leaving the usually stoic girl slightly flushed. "We haven't seen him before! I bet he is here for the tournament and we just lost our chance to study him! Hurry, after him!" Weiss said as she grabbed Blake and Yang laughed following them. Ruby sighed and was about to follow when her scroll vibrated and a message from Qrow asked her to visit Jaune.

"Visit Jaune? How does even he know about him?"

"Something wrong Rubes?" Yang asks before following their teammates.

"Uncle Qrow asked me to visit Jaune, I think something is wrong." Yang stared at her sister for a moment before smiling and giving her a thumbs up.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go check up on bar boy and I'll cover for you with the Ice Queen." Ruby hugged her sister and ran off, but Yang couldn't resist a jab. "Use protection if you two do the naughty!" Ruby turned as red as her cape and used her semblance to escape.

. . .

Ruby walked to the clock tower and received no answer, so she walked down to his bar. Inside, Jaune was sitting on the ground and drinking from a whiskey bottle he must have bought somehow. The boy was wearing a tank top and his arms were exposed, old scars decorated his arms and many looked to be self-inflicted. Jaune didn't hear when she walked in and looked to be in a drunken stupor, rambling apologises and using a sword to cut the skin that was still unblemished. Ruby stared at her friend and a flash of another blonde man drunk and trying to drown his pain in blood appeared in her mind. She was too young to help the man and was forced to watch as he broke himself, she wouldn't stand by this time.

Ruby walked to Jaune and hugged him tightly, feeling him tense up and pull the sword away from his skin. "Jaune… It's okay. I'm here for you. It's okay." Her soft tone and understanding words nearly broke the knight as he dropped the blade and held onto the reaper for dear life.

"I'm s-so sorry! Joy, I couldn't save him! I couldn't save you! After all I've done and I'm still not closer to you! Mom… our sisters… all of them mourned us! I… I couldn't face them and I ran like a coward! I-I didn't even see them bury dad… I don't deserve to be here… I don't deserve my name or blood… I'm nothing but a coward…" Jaune cried as he held the girl he believed was his sister and Ruby cried to see the usually happy boy so broken. Another flash of the blonde man appeared but this time he was sobbing while looking at a photo of a smiling silver-eyed woman in a white cape. Memories of crying herself to sleep as Yang held her passed and she kissed Jaune's forehead.

"This isn't your fault and no one is blaming you but your own heart. You've done everything you could and they would want you to live happy. Don't lose yourself in this guilt, don't drown in this pain, I know that it hurts inside. So many live in darkness and there are those that give in, but if you have people by your side I promise we'll be there until the end. I don't know what went wrong, I don't know what I can do, I don't know how I can help, but trust me to be here. I haven't given up on you, none of us have, so please don't give up on yourself." She slowly pulled up his arms to show him the the scars. "This wasn't the way that you were meant to draw a crowd. I let this happen before, but this time I'll do this right. Please don't give up the fight."

Her words finally broke through his drunken mind and Jaune looked at the scars in shame, before Ruby tilted his head up and gave him a smile. Both teared up and held each other as they showed each other their pains and sorrows. Jaune looked at Crocea Mors and it glowed as the blood on it vanished. "Thanks you Ruby… Thank you so much…"

Ruby shook her head. "Don't thank me, thank yourself and promise that you talk to me next time."

"I promise." The two smiled at each other and Ruby stared at the scars before leaving to grab a cloth to clean it. She came back and looked at Jaune.

"Do you want to put this behind you?" Jaune looked at her and nodded softly as she leaned forward and placed her forehead against his.

" _We will surpass immortality_

 _Stand as symbols of hope and virtue_

 _Through all pain and the fear of death_

 _My power inside releases your_

 _And both promise to protect each other"_

Ruby finished her chant and nearly fell over as Jaune caught her. His body glowed as he felt unbelievable power course through him, healing his scars and wounds except for one. The first one he ever did to himself. Ruby and Jaune got to their feet and shared a small laugh.

"Ruby, why did you come for me?" Jaune asked confused as to why she would be there.

"Something told me that you needed my help." Ruby said with a smile and made a promise to call Qrow. "Hey, come on and follow me." She said as she pulled him up and out of the bar.

"Where are we going?"

"This wasn't the first time I have seen something like this and I found that seeing the good that this place has to offer helps. There was once a happy man that lost someone very close to him and he became cold and sad. He did his best but was unable to do his responsibilities, leaving two young girls alone. They watched as he suffered in silence."

"What happened to him?"

"The girls had a bit of help and showed him why he fell in love in the first place. They showed him that he wasn't alone in his sorrow and never once gave up on him, I like to believe their love brought him back." The two walked in comfortable silence.

. . .

Taiyang Xiao Long was staring at a photo of Summer Rose holding Ruby and Yang as she smiled at the camera. He had taken that photo for Ruby's first birthday and he remembered crying and his wife calling him a big baby. He loved her so much that when he lost her, he abandoned those that she trusted him with. That was his greatest regret as a man and as a father, but those sweet girls never gave up on him.

Qrow had come over and the two argued, leading to a fight that ended with Yang and Ruby holding the adults back. Yang was tearing up and punching her father in the legs while Ruby hugged and cried into Qrow's legs. Yang yelled about how he had basically abandoned them and that when she ran away with Ruby, it was Qrow that needed to save them. She cried that he wasn't the one who was hurting and that they wanted their father back.

Tai stared at his girls and fell to his knees, realizing that he left them when they needed him most. They had lost their mother and then their father turned away from them. Tai cried as he held them both and apologized over and over again. Qrow smiled at the family and while they were far from being what they were, he knew that they would be just fine.

Tai stared at the broken moon and swore to his rose that he would never leave their side again.

"I love you, Summer."

. . .

Ruby and Jaune went out to eat and Ruby joked that they needed to buy Jaune some mints for his whiskey breath. They ate at a cafe and shared a pizza and cookie cake. They talked about Beacon, work, the vigilantes that protected the city, and about the coming festival. Jaune hoped that it would bring in more business and Ruby told a story about a time that her corgi Zwei had stolen a pack of cookies from her and the resulting chase destroyed a Patch restaurant.

The two left and saw a rabbit faunus fighting back against a team of bullies, the small crowd around them cheering for the bullies. Ruby gritted her teeth when she saw the bullies.

"Cardin Winchester. He is a racist jerk that bullies all the Faunus at Beacon, the one being bullied right now his favorite because she is part of one of the strongest teams. Her name is Velvet and I saw her training, she is amazing with every kind of weapon. Lately, she has been ignoring him or standing up to him but it looks like she can't handle a crowd of these people." Jaune frowned and pushed past the people, punching Cardin in the face and glaring at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you really going to pick a fight for that animal?!" Cardin shouted in anger but was met with a punch to the stomach.

"Shut up! All of you are disgusting! This poor girl has done nothing to deserve this! If you or your children were born a Faunus then would you still have this hate? It's people like you that are the reason the White Fang turned aggressive and angry. None of you have ever had to go through what the Faunus had to and I wish you did, so you would open your eyes a bit." Jaune turned and stretched out a hand to Velvet and she grabbed it, thanking him for the help. Jaune nodded and Velvet suddenly pushed him ready to take the punch that Cardin had thrown at him, but Ruby used her semblance to elbow the bully. The three left him to his team and Ruby rubbed her elbow.

"That guy's head is really hard for someone who has nothing in it." They laughed and Velvet asked if she had ever seen Jaune before, he looked at her and remembered that she was the girl he had helped when he broke into Beacon. She might put the pieces together so he lied and said no, while it looked like Velvet let it drop she knew that she never forgot a face. This boy had a pause before so his answer so what could he be hiding? "What do you think Velvet?"

The rabbit girl jumped. "Sorry, what was the question?"

"We can go watch a movie if you want to," Ruby said with a smile. "I heard the Red vs Blue movie was pretty good."

Velvet smiled before shaking her head. "My team is probably worried about me so please go on. Thank you, both for the help."

Jaune nodded and smiled. Ruby looked sad to let the new friend go but said that Velvet could go to Jaune's milk bar to see them as they are usually there. The two split the cost of the tickets and snacks.

. . .

Roman Torchwick was lying down at the top of a building and relaxed. News of the Shadow Knight declaring war on the White Fang for Vale has gotten all the higher ups on edge. Roman smiled as he knew the coming weeks would be something interesting. The threat of death loomed over him but he found it hard to care at the moment, his soul was at peace. A shadow came over his face and he opened his eyes to the pink and brown of his adopted daughter. She tilted her head in confusion at his relaxed nature.

"Neo, if you could, would you change anything about your life? Would you change meeting me?" The girl shook her head and hugged him, causing him to laugh and hug her back. "Thanks, I know I wasn't the best guardian and I hope that after all this is done we can go straight. Buy a place in a nice town like Patch and maybe find you a nice boy." Neo stuck her tongue out and Roman ruffled her hair. "I wish that I could be a hero like those people at night, to save lives instead of destroying them. One day, I hope to make a positive change for once in my life."

Neo yawned and Roman smiled. "Come on, let's get you some ice cream and I think that a nap would feel good tonight." Neo nodded and skipped away, leaving Roman to look at the sky and sigh. "I hope that day comes soon, I can't stand by as they destroy so many."

. . .

The day she had waited for finally came and the tortured girl in the lab of Arthur Watts broke from her restraints. For some strange reason, the guards that usually watched her were leaving a brief window of three minutes between each shift. She ran from the lab and soon heard heavy footsteps following her. She skidded to a stop and her eyes glowed as she stuck her hands out and broken the necks of those chasing her. She ran again until she arrived at the airstrip and killed a small group that was getting off a plane. The pilot fell on his behind and begged for mercy, the girl stared at him and gave one command.

"Get me to Vale."

. . .

Arthur Watts chuckled as he watched his men die at the hands of his little test. The plan was simple, allow the creature to believe that she is going to help her precious hero and then make her be the one to kill him. The knight's identity was something that Watts could wait for and who knows? His blood and body could be used afterward perhaps. In the end, the girl will be more broken than ever and Salem will be rid of another pest.

"Go on, Tiga, lead your hero to his end."

. . .

Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren waited and straightened up as the general's bullhead arrived. The door opened to the general and his right hand, Winter Schnee.

"General," Pyrrha said as she stepped forward. "I hope that the ride was well."

"Yes, however as much as I would love to ask for updates on the knight and his new allies, I must meet with Ozpin. Please take good care of my… children and show them around, Vale. They will be joining a team soon and fight in the Vytal Festival. I trust their care in your team's capable hands." The general turned to the ship and called out. "Penny! Pace!"

Pyrrha and her team stared as a girl with orange hair and green eyes walked out smiling with a frowning boy who had black hair and blue eyes. Penny stands up straight and salutes to the three teens.

"Salutations new friends! I am Penny Polendina!" She gently elbowed her brother and he sighed, slouching.

"I am Pace Polendina, nice to meetcha." The general sighed and shook his head, thank Pyrrha and the others for this.

"Behave you two." Penny nods and salutes while Pace sticks his tongue out.

"Well, I am Pyrrha Nikos-"

"I'm Nora Valkyrie and this is Magnhild!" Nora said as she hopped to Penny and stuck out her grenade launcher-hammer hybrid. Nora shook Penny's hand and chuckled. "Wow, you have a real grip there."

"Nora, calm down just a bit please." Nora giggled and walked to Ren's side. "I am Lie Ren, call me Ren."

"You all make up the famous Team PRN, you all are also the founding members of the JDF. Our father thinks very highly of you three." Penny said and Pace looked up, more interested in the three now.

"You three are the ones chasing the Shadow Knight, I want to help you out." Pyrrha looked at the boy, his mood changed and he seemed to be excited to prove helpful.

"The knight could be dangerous, who are you so interested?" Pace smirked and pulled out a sword and shield.

"Because I am simply better than him."

. . .

Ruby and Jaune stretched as they exited the movie and began to give their two sense.

"I think that Caboose could even beat Yang in an arm wrestle! I liked Carolina fight scenes and Kimball." Ruby said while smiling and punching the air.

"I liked Church and Washington a lot. Church for his terrible luck and Wash because he's a badass and still not one of the best." Jaune said while laughing at the thought of Yang meeting someone like Caboose. Jaune looked at the red reaper and smiled. "Thank you, Ruby."

Ruby tilted her head. "For what?"

"For coming for me and helping me through my pain. Today was the day that I lost my dad. A man killed him and he died trying to save me and my sister."

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know… but I still hope to find her. How about you? You seemed to know what to do back there."

"You reminded me of my dad… he was broken after my mother died." The two were left in silence. "I guess we aren't so different huh?"

"To the socially broken." The two shared a smile and spent the rest of the day together. Yang and Blake found the two and were too tired to tease them. Weiss was being carried and seemed to be unconscious. Yang said that while they were chasing the Monkey Faunus, Weiss tried to fight him to see what kind of weapon he had but she destroyed a small spaghetti stand and when she tried to pay for it her card was denied. Weiss had to work there for the day and was too tired to move.

"I'm gonna kill that delinquent..." Weiss mumbled and Ruby smiled shaking her head.

"I better help them get her to the bullhead, thanks for today Jaune." Ruby hesitated for a moment before kissing his cheek and leaving him in shock. "Payback for that night at Beacon!" Ruby said while sticking her tongue out and holding Weiss's legs.

"Well, looks like the girl surprised the master." Jaune chuckled and walked back towards his home, passing Team PRN and two new people he didn't recognize. He waved and they nodded at him, but the last two stared at him and Jaune froze. There was something in those two's stare that caused him to pause. Qrow had taught him that the body usually knows more than the mind so when you feel fear and don't know why trust in that fear. Both the newcomers looked at him and the boy had a sword and shield that were painted white.

"You okay dude?" The boy said as he stared at Jaune.

"Of course… I have to go." Jaune ran from the two, missing the moment the two shared a look as their eyes glowed momentarily.

. . .

Ironwood smirked as news reached him from Ozpin as he agreed to house Penny and Pace at Beacon. However, the simple stipulation was that they would need at least one other person to participate in the festival. He would find someone but this day was a victory. He passed a team of four people, their leader glanced at him with deep amber eyes.

Those eyes nearly made the man pause, something about them wasn't right...


	9. Chapter 9

The Beginning of the Fall! Vale's Future in Ruin!

Ruby hummed to herself as she happily walked the streets of Vale. She had woken up early to get some new weapon parts she had ordered weeks ago and was glad to be away from the fighting and craziness of the recent weeks. Weiss had signed up the team for the role of showing the new students around Beacon, half for helping her image and being an upstanding citizen of the kingdom she saw it as her duty to help them, and half to find out more about each one and to beat them in the tournament. She didn't think Ruby would be the best kind of person to show groups of people around and Ruby agreed wholeheartedly.

Vale seemed to be more lively as its citizens were excited with the festival starting but Ruby noticed the lack of children running around. Tension has surrounded the town since the White Fang had begun an unofficial war against the Shadow Knight and his allies. People have disappeared and the police need help but Vale can't have huntsmen patrolling the streets at all times or risk losing face to the other kingdoms. The festival is meant to show that there is peace between all of the cultures in Remnant, but Vale has been anything but peaceful right now.

Ruby sighed and touched Crescent Rose. "Have we really helped anything or just made things worse? I don't know anymore…" Ruby whispered to herself and bumped into a person. She jumped back and apologized. "I'm sorry, I was distracted and not paying attention to where I was going."

The person she bumped into was a girl with amber eyes and dark hair. Two others were by her side. "No harm done, nice weapon you have there. You must be a huntress."

Ruby smiled while showing Crescent Rose off. "Yep! This is Crescent Rose! Oh, I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose." She stuck out a hand but the girl just smiled.

"Cinder Fall. See you around, Ruby." The three left and Ruby shrugged.

"They were weird."

"Weird like being a man weird?" Ruby jumped again at the new voice that was right behind her. She turned to see a girl with red hair and green eyes wearing a friendly smile was standing there. "Sal-u-tations Ruby Rose!"

"Uhh, hey? Who are you?"

"Penny Polendina at your service!" Penny saluted and Ruby smiled a bit.

"You must be a tourist here for the festival right?"

"Nope, I am a fighter! My brother and I are combat ready and form a team of our own." Penny said while she put a fist against her chest.

"A team of two people? I don't know if Ozpin and the other teachers will allow that. Are you sure that will be enough?" Ruby asked while wondering how Penny had gotten away from Weiss and the others. She nodded confidently and began to look around. "You looking for something?"

"My little brother, he can be a bit of a troublemaker and ran off without telling our father or caretakers." Ruby related to the strange girl as Yang was the same way when they were younger. She would take her bike and go off whenever she wanted, leaving their dad in a panic.

"Well, I have nothing better to do so why don't we look for him together?" Penny looked at Ruby and tilted her head in confusion.

"Why would you help me? I'm just a stranger."

Ruby smiled and grabbed Penny's hand while giggling to herself. "A friend told me that strangers are just friends we haven't met yet and I help my friends." Penny stared at Ruby in awe before looking at their hands and smiling.

"Friends…"

. . .

A bored Pace Polendina was wandering Vale while looking for anything to do. Beacon wasn't all the greatness that Penny's servers said that it would be and most of the teams were pretty weak. He didn't find them even worth fighting so he put on a white hoodie and left to town without reporting to his father. There were small groups of people here and there but he soon found himself alone on the outskirts of the city. The boy sat down and lowered his hood to let the sun shine down on his face. He pitied Penny as she didn't need sunlight to live so she was never let out back in Atlas, hell, the only reason he was ever out of his room was to exercise and to train against Penny.

Pace pulled out his sword and shield and laid them next to him. He stared at the Atlas symbol that was engraved into the shield and thought about the tests that were done on him and Penny. He grabbed his sword and scratched the symbol out while carving in a new one, two crossing swords that resembled his sister's in front of a shield, He smiled at the symbol before cutting a cage around the symbol and thinking about the day that they could get away from the cages and live like real people. He didn't even know if Penny would come with him without their father and Atlas wouldn't let him out so easily.

A scream caused him to turn and a faunus woman ran out of an alley while being chased by a drunk man. Pace looked at the rundown buildings around him and knew that the people inside them could the scream but they did nothing. ' _Cowards.'_ Pace thought as he rushed to the woman and slid, causing the man to trip. He cursed and glared at Pace.

"Don't mess with me kid, I don't care if you are a huntsman. I'll knock you flat on your ass!" Pace chuckled and tossed his weapons aside as he put up his fists.

"Bring it on." The man charged at the boy but he easily step-sided and kneed the man in the gut. He waited as the man got back up and started throwing punches but Pace dodged each one and slammed his head into the man's nose, causing a crunching sound as it broke. The man staggered back and pulled out a knife as he angrily rushed at Pace but the boy just smiled. Just as the blade was about to hit his neck, a levitating sword blocked it and knocked the man away. Pace turned and Penny hugged him tightly, nearly breaking his back.

Ruby smiled as she watched Pace try to get away from his sister and looked at the would-be murderer. She wondered if the criminals that would be doing their crimes at night were now too scared to so they just started doing them during the day. She would have to talk to the knight about this. Pace had finally gotten out of Panny's iron grip and she checked him for injuries and scanned him after making sure Ruby was distracted.

"I'm okay Pen! I'm not a baby!" Penny finished her check up and nodded.

"Sorry brother but you know what would happen if you got hurt." Pace rolled his eyes and grabbed his weapons.

"You really think that someone like this could hurt me? I had everything under control." He looked at Ruby and nudged Penny. "Who's that?"

Penny hugged Ruby, who also started to struggle, and smiled. "This is my friend Ruby Rose! She's a student at Beacon and leader of team RWBY."

"Team RWBY? Really? I swear the headmasters choose team leaders based on the team names." Ruby was about to take offense to that when they were suddenly surrounded by Atlesian Knights. "Damn it…" Ironwood walked up and looked at Penny and Pace, silently telling them to come with him and they both walked to his side.

"Miss Rose, thank you for keeping watch over these two. I would recommend going to Beacon as your uncle is on his way and I rather he not destroy the school." Ruby looked at Penny, who nodded and gave a small wave, and nodded while running towards the bullhead. "What were you two doing off the school grounds and what happened to your shield?" Pace crossed his arms and Penny answered that she had let him loose and was looking for him. "I want to be notified if this happens again and tonight you two will be going after the vigilantes. I want their identities." Penny saluted and Pace grunted. Pink and brown eyes stared from the nearby alley and rushed off.

. . .

Roman rubbed his face in frustration as he read the note that Neo wrote to inform him that two Atlas huntsmen would be going after the knight that night. Roman thought about how he could warn him when a voice broke the silence.

"Well, they will have to wait in line. I won't let this _Knight_ get away with murdering and hurting the faunus any longer." Roman and Neo backed up from the angry Adam Taurus as he pulled out his blade. "I'll kill him and these Atlas soldiers then take back Vale. Roman, how far along is our plan?"

Roman lit his cigar and blew out a lungful of smoke. "We're ahead of schedule but we are losing members to the authorities every night." Adam ordered him to just stay to his job and to not worry about the knight.

"Tonight, those in Vale who have dared defy the White Fang will burn. I want every White Fang member that is willing to die for the faunus to meet me."

One of his guards spoke up. "But sir, won't the huntsmen come once an attack like that is started?"

Adam smirked at the guard, causing the grown man to shiver. "The fools won't do anything. That is the beauty of the law, it can be manipulated."

. . .

Pyrrha was putting on her armor as she thought about the upcoming competition, the strange twins that her team has been watching, the White Fang, the Shadow Knight and his allies, and the war that has been hurting Vale. She knew that Ren had theories that he wasn't ready to tell her about as he wasn't sure of them yet.

' _All the kingdoms will be watching Vale soon and if we can't get everything under control then that could put the Vytal Festival in danger. Vale may not be my birthplace but this is my home. I can't let it hurt anymore.'_ Nora walked in and smiled at Pyrrha as she grabbed her weapon. "Going to training Pyrrha?"

"No, I'm tired of training. Tell Ren to get things ready for tonight, we're going hunting."

Nora's eyes sparkled with excitement. "I'll tell him! I'm ready to break some legs!" Nora ran out and Pyrrha smiled. Ren and Nora had trusted her with their background when she felt like she could trust them with her own. They were so young when they were pushed away from their home by a Grimm. Now Vale has become stuck in a path of ruin by the fighting between the white fang and the knight's circle. The fear being generated will be drawing the Grimm if they don't stop it soon.

. . .

Jaune cleaned up the bar and decided to leave early as he wanted to catch up on his sleep but on his way back to the clock tower he overheard two Faunus whispering to each other.

"Are you sure it's tonight?"

"Yep. The White Fang is looking for Faunus that want change to meet near the docks tonight. I heard that they are planning something big and they need all the people they can get, especially since the knight had come to town."

Jaune ignored the rest of the conversation and was about to call Junior to get men ready to attack but thought of the consequences that an all-out attack would bear. He would be putting dozens of Faunus at risk and lose all information regarding this big plan. He needed to think smarter than his opponents.

Jaune had managed to get several cheap scrolls from O once he heard about the Shadow Knight getting several allies. The scrolls were black and were untraceable. He pulled out this emergency scroll once he arrived in his tower and called Blake, the cat faunus answered on the third ring. "Shadow? Why are you calling? Something wrong?"

"Not yet, but I have a job for you and Golden Fist. I heard from some intel that the White Fang was planning a recruitment meeting for something big. I want you to attend as an interested Faunus and see what the plan is while Golden Fist stays nearby as backup."

"I'll call her right away but I may bring someone else with me. You don't have to worry, he's a good guy."

. . .

Sun Wukong sat on the docks where he arrived and peacefully ate a banana while looking at the setting sun. His best friend and fellow teammate, Neptune Vasilias, walked up to him and sat down.

"You know Scarlett is looking to kill you? The police arrived at Beacon and demanded pay for the fruit you took and since Sage and I were broke, Scarlett paid." Sun chuckled and handed Neptune a banana, who sighed and smiled while taking it and shaking his head. "So I guess you must be really liking it here?"

Sun pretended to be surprised. "What makes you say that?"

Neptune chuckled and punched Sun's shoulder. "I saw you with that girl earlier! Why haven't you introduced her to the team? Afraid that we'd steal her?" Sun rolled his eyes.

"I think that she's smart enough to avoid you but you do have a similarity. You both hate water." Neptune shut up after that jab but perked up again.

"She have any friends?"

"Hmm, her team but one is too young and the other too wild. Maybe the last one but she's pretty cold."

"Dude, I could thaw any girl's heart." Neptune smiled and pointed to himself

"Yeaaah, anyway I have to answer this call real quick." Sun pulled out his scroll and Blake was there getting onto the bullhead to Beacon. "Hey! We were just talking about yo-"

"Sun, I need you to meet me at the docks in an hour and bring your weapon." She ended the call and Sun deflated while Neptune took the scroll.

"Yeah, you two were definitely made for each other." Sun glared at his best friend and grabbed him by the collar. "Hey!"

. . .

Tiga held a pistol to the back of her pilot's head as a terrible headache struck and she groaned in pain as flashes of a body falling and a city burning appeared in her mind.

"Hey kid, you okay?"

"Shut up and fly faster! I need to get to Vale!" She shook the flashes away and hoped that she wouldn't be too late to change things…

(A/N - Holy person above, this has been gone for far too long! I'm so sorry for the long hiatus on my stories! College kept me busy and then I had to get a job. I hope you like the next few parts!)


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